


What she wants

by Miliz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alpha Emma Swan, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/F, Girl Penis Emma Swan, Magic Cock, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-01-07 23:19:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 46,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12242589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miliz/pseuds/Miliz
Summary: When the curse is broken and the two worlds collide, Emma choses to go to Faitytale Land to stay near her family. Things are different there, and some of them are harder to get used to. When Zelena shows up at Regina's kingdom with a huge army and takes up a fairy dust mine, David and the Queen join forces to go to war. Now they are marching. But what Emma couldn't have guessed was that the hardest battle would be to dominate her own desires as Regina goes into heat mid-way, leaving her alpha senses on alert and bringing up feelings they have even less control over.





	1. The snow stops

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys. My first attempt into the omegaverse land. Hope I'm doing it right (?). Let's see how it goes.

_Emma_

  


I wake up to a slit of sunlight passing through the fabric of my tent and landing on my face. I try to blink the reddish glow away from my eyelashes, adjusting myself under the blankets, but sleep is all but gone. I groan as I move, and glance at my watch out of habit. It marks three o’clock, though I can sense it’s barely past seven. There’s something about fairytale land that keeps screwing up any digital device, no matter how many times I try to fix them.

Outside I hear the cracking, the swishing and the tinkling of an army getting ready for the day. Hundreds and hundreds of men, their steps revolving the muddy earth. Groaning again, I sit up. Shit, I’m sore. Spending days on the back of a horse, camping in the forest, making fucking fires to cook? It all looks much more appealing in epic fantasy novels. In real life, it sucks.

I get dressed, grimacing as the rough fabric of the jeans scrapes my bruised inner thighs, and then move the flap to the side as I go out. It’s cold, but it stopped snowing, thank God. We were held up not for one, but for two fucking snow storms on the way. It’s no surprise everybody around here looks so gloomy. Even David is growing impatient, and Regina… Regina would have whipped the horses - and the men, to be honest - from day one, if she thought that would make us arrive any sooner.

It won’t.

There’s so much snow on the ground we don’t have any choice but to move slowly. The horses have to watch their step, because there always seems to be a fallen tree or a root ready to break their legs. The hunting is harder, the camping is uncomfortable, and people are getting sick all the time.

No one was expecting this. This kind of cold is early to the season.

At least that’s what David says. I don’t know shit about fairy tale weather. Or about anything else involving this land. Oh, no, I know this: a cup of coffee is rare as fuck.

“Tea, Captain Swan?” Reynolds asks as I approach a fire, where a kettle steams away. I can barely ride a horse, I suck at holding a sword, but David proclaimed captain, so that’s what I am.

“Yeah, thanks,” I wrap my hands around the tin cup he passes me and sip my tea, willing my body to wake as if it was coffee. People around are dismantling the tents, loading the horses. I overslept. “What did I miss?”

“A scout arrived by dawn,” He says, examining his sword. “Says they counted ‘round five thousand men, some thousand of’em mounted.”

“Shit. That’s a lot, right?”

He arches an eyebrow at me and nods, “Aye,” Reynolds looks around for a long time, as if counting the soldiers right now. “But our force is strong, too. And we know the land; they just got here from that weird yellow place.”

“Right,” I sigh into my cup. “You know where David is? I mean, King James?”

“Last I saw him, he was reuniting the war council in the Queen’s tent.”

“Great,” I mumble, throwing away the rest of the tea and giving Reynolds his cup back. “Is she glad the snow has stopped?”

The man gives me an amused grin, “Aye, Captain, the Queen was so glad she was singing with the birds.”

“Right, silly question, got it.” It doesn’t make it any more tempting, getting to this war council reunion. Reynolds seems to read my mind.

“Good luck, Captain.”

  


_Regina_

  


“We simply cannot give ourselves the luxury of taking longer,” I hiss through gritted teeth; the effort of keeping my voice low almost leaves my throat raw. “We should have arrived two weeks ago, David.”

“Yes, Regina, we are all aware of it,” He says condescendingly. “But we were blindsided by the storms, the road is a mud mess, and we already lost four horses and seven men.”

“It is a war, we will lose horses and men, as unfortunate as it is,” I reply, feeling a hot wave rise with my temper, and spread through my neck and face. “But with the new information we have…”

“That her force is _bigger_ than ours,” He interrupts.

“That Zelena has conquered the surroundings, in addition to Tegan Fort!” I spat.

“If we keep getting ahead of ourselves, we won’t--”

“Tegan is the biggest fairy dust mining village in my kingdom!”

“I know, Regina, but that doesn’t mean…”

“You have no idea what Zelena might be able to do, once she gets hold of the production. If you think _your_ kingdom won’t be affected...”

“Hey!” He protests, slamming a hand on the wooden table. “I am as much worried as you are about this situation. We are allies, and I mean to stop her as well as you do. But I will not sacrifice my men, my army, along with our chances of a fair fight, because you want to rush us into stupidness!”

“ _Who_ are you calling stupid?” I whisper under my breath.

“Heeey, guys,” Emma’s voice breaks into the room, but for a moment neither me nor David look away. Then he gives in, turning to his daughter. “Another bright day of friendship and smiles, I see,” She says, and another hot flash runs through the back of my neck, my temples and my cheeks. The anger comes with a chill when my eyes land on the woman by the flap door.

“Emma,” David greets her, and the other two men in the room nod. They are supposed to be experts in strategy, but I am everyday more convinced they are just fools eager to please David, and tongueless in my presence.

Emma is wearing an improper outfit for this endeavor, as always. A pair of jeans, army boots, and a plush coat. No fur, no hood, nothing to cushion her legs around the horse. No wonder she complains of riding all the time; she is too stubborn to learn that if she lives in fairytale land, she has to live a fairytale life.

“The snow stopped,” She cheers, taking away the coat. My eyes follow the movement; her arms flexing, the undershirt rising to nude a thin line of skin - and then the coat is off, and a wave of a warm, earthy scent travels through the room with the speed of a bullet. When it reaches me, I feel like staggering. The warmth in my neck runs towards my chest, involves my breasts and leaves a tingling sensation in my nipples.

“I’m sorry?” I say when I notice four pairs of eyes staring at me. I lost something in the last few seconds.

“I said Reynolds told me about Zelena’s forces,” Emma explains, our stares leveled. “What’d you think she wants?”

“Given the fact she has attacked with full force the most productive fairy dust mine we have in this kingdom and is now making sure to protect it, I would dare to say, Ms. Swan, that she is interested in fairy dust,” I say slowly, as if the idea will be hard for her to comprehend. The glow in her green eyes makes something shift in my stomach. I don’t feel… normal.

“Well, duh, right?” Emma mocks, glancing at the map on top of the table. “Except that David’s kingdom has a mine three times bigger? And not that well protect, no offense, Dave.”

“Not taken, we really should fortify our garnisons in Deijen Town.”

“What are you implying, Ms. Swan?”

“That it’s not about fairy dust,” She looks at me again, and I scan her tense jaw, the purplish shadows around her eyes and the dryness of her lips. Even after all this time, I can’t seem to ascertain why she looks so fierce where other people would look fragile. All I know is that this tent is getting uncomfortably warm.

“So it is personal, there was never a real doubt about that,” I refute, and Emma nods.

“Yeah, she’s up to something, we all know it, we just don’t know what it is. So, again: what do you think she wants?”

“At this point,” David meddles in, shaking his head, “all we have are conjectures.”

“But she made a real big move here, you know? I mean, five thousand men? She brought them all, she left Oz by its own. If she’s defeated here…”

“ _When_ ,” I correct, and Emma rolls her eyes at me.

“She won’t have anywhere to go and hide. She might be overconfident, but at this point? She would have to also be stupid. No one buys this kind of fight...”

“If she shows up here with an army like this, takes up a fort, puts the flag of Oz over it, and you don’t think she wants a fight…” David says, raising an eyebrow. “What do _you_ think she wants?”

There’s a silence for a moment, while Emma’s stare finds mine, and then I answer in her place, “Me.”

  


For the next hour, we design plans and strategies to get my village back. The snow has not restarted, but it is still too cold for this time of the season. Except that it is not. Inside the tent, the temperature seems to keep rising, until I feel a drop of sweat running down my spine, raising a shiver on the way. Nobody else looks disturbed or as flushed as I feel my face becoming.

The men talk, I argue, Emma mostly listens. She is not used to any of this, and her discomfort sometimes is as clear as water. Something about her keeps drawing my attention; the way she moves her hands, that annoying smirk, the movement of her thighs when she stretches. And then, when she pulls her hair up and ties it, the power of her smell almost knocks me over.

_Oh. No. I cannot..._

I make the math mentally, but it does not add up. I was supposed to have at least another week. This is ridiculous. Unacceptable. I cannot be… going into heat.

Nevertheless, the moment I think of it, I know. The moment I think of it, it settles in the pit of my stomach, lower in my venter, pulsing through my blood. I am in the room with two alphas and two betas, but three of them are already mated for life - they will barely sense me. But the last one…

Our eyes meet in the precise moment Emma fully captures my scent. Her pupils swell like a cat’s, shadowing the green. All the sound fades, the time hanging from a thread, and I… throb. One heartbeat, two, and the arousal is enough to tighten my stomach. Only having her eyes on me feels like a punch. I feel like I could sense this alpha miles away - I could sense Emma from another universe.

She stumbles to her feet, points of color in her pale cheeks, “So, good talk, I think we covered it,” She mumbles, looking around the table, but avoiding me. “I’ll go… feed… my horse.”

“I am sure your esquire has done that, Emma,” David says lightly.

“Oh, right, my esquire. But, uhn, Thunder likes to eat from my hand, so… Yeah, I never had a dog, so now I’m overcompensating. And we should go, right? We should… right, bye!”

The three men around the table exchange a few looks, then glance at me.

“This meeting is over, gentleman,” I whisper, and they clear their throats, nod and bow on the way out.

I do not trust my legs to stand up for the next five minutes.

  


_Emma_

  


It’s past noon, and I can hear the trot of a huge cavalry all around me as I ride Thunder. I smell the horses, the threes, the mud, even the salty air coming from the south. But underneath, and most of all, I smell _her_.

Regina’s the only omega in this battalion, as far as I know, but there is so many people I might be mistaken. I know she's the only one going through heat, though. And the soldiers, mostly betas, and the few alphas... There’s a shared thrill enveloping all of them - fuck, all of _us_. It’s impossible to ignore, but at the same time, everything goes on as usual.

Today, for the first time in weeks, Regina summoned her carriage, instead of riding. It was a smart measure, and seemed to work just fine for most people. Out of sight, out of mind. They are laughing, talking, trotting and going on about their lives. I can’t. I just fucking can’t.  

Her scent lingers in my memory as if she has branded me with it. I’d never felt it before; I don’t know if she inhibited her heats or if she just collected herself to her chambers and worked it out, alone or with someone else. I don’t know, but I’ve never been around her like this. It’s so… overwhelming. Shit.

I wasn’t even supposed to be here. I was so ready to sit this one out. If Regina wants to squabble with her sister, let her. Honestly, no time for this shit. Except that I do have the time, because I don’t actually have a job in this place. Or I do, which is solving shit like this, since I am - jesus fuck, listen to this: the princess-heir. Anyway, I was ready not to come. David is a natural in this kind of thing, so, yeah, I’d be glad to stay back with my kid, but my kid had other plans.

 Now for some reason I can’t get out of my mind the night I decided to join this fucking army. We were back at Regina’s castle, Henry and I, for our weekly family dinner - his idea, of course. Regina and I go along with it because we know he’ll inherit both kingdoms one day. We don’t want Henry to feel divided, so _we_ share him. As best as we can, at least. He was all questions that night, though Regina was trying to sooth him into thinking this would be easy peasy. Henry wasn’t buying it.

“At least I know you’ll take care of each other,” He said, playing with the food on his plate.

“Hm, actually, kid, I’m not joining this time. David has it covered.”

“What?” He looked up, frowning at me, then at Regina. “Why?”

“Your mother has her own things to take care of, Henry,” Regina said calmly. “Your grandfather and I are allies, and we’ll solve this quickly.”

“No way, no! Mom!” He looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it. “You can’t let her go alone against Zelena!”

“Henry, I’m more than capable of--”

“You two are stronger together!” He yelled, shutting us both up.

Then Regina looked at me. That’s the moment I can’t seem to erase of my mind now. The _way_ she looked at me. As if, for that split second, she couldn’t find it in herself to deny it. As if she was feeling again that wholesome thrill of our magics blending together. Like she knew Henry was right, that she needed me, somehow. That she was stronger with me. It was just a second, before she put Henry in his place.

But here I am.

Shit, if that wasn’t a mistake. My legs are sore, my back aches, I hate riding, and there’s a churning in my guts that’s the most compelling and embarrassing thing I have felt in my life. I feel like running, and I feel like I can’t move.

  


_Regina_

  


I stifle a moan biting on my own closed fist, the other hand up between my legs, rubbing the hard bud of my clit until I’m shivering. The orgasm rocks me against the carriage wall, making beads of sweat slide down my back. It does not even help. The need is not softened, not soothed. It is still overpowering, storming through my body, demanding more. _Demanding_.

I whimper, sliding two fingers inside me, feeling how I contract at the touch, desperate to be fulfilled. Not even the consciousness that I am surrounded by servants and soldiers, just outside this carriage, that there is one barely a foot away, leading the horses… None of it can make me stop. I push in harder, my hips moving forward to meet my hand, biting on my fist again as I climax, my blood pumping in my temples.

It is not enough. Knowing it makes me want to cry out. I need a potion to put this under control, but there is nowhere near this place where I can get one. I sent a soldier ahead to the nearest town, but with the snow this deep, I will be lucky if he comes back within a week. Until there…

My hand starts again, my breath coming out ragged as an image makes way into my head. Before I can shake it off, the carriage comes to a sudden stop. It takes everything I have to right myself and push away the curtains to glimpse outside.

“Jared, why did we stop?”

“Big landslip, Your Majesty,” He says, casting his eyes down. My scent makes his cheeks a bright red, but I am his Queen, and he will not show me anything but respect. “It’ll be a few hours before we can clear the road; King James says we should take the time to eat and hunt around this area.”

“Very well,” I wet my dry lips, looking around. At a distance, I watch as Emma dismounts her horse, grimacing in the process. She turns around as if my stare prickled at the back of her head. Our eyes meet, and a shiver runs through my thighs, leaving me throbbing again. “I will stay in the carriage.”

  


_Emma_

  


“Are you ok?” David asks as we finish lunch. He passes me a flask of wine and I sip at it, pulling at my collar uncomfortably.

“Yeah, just tired. And my legs are killing me,” I complain, feeling the burning sensation that stresses my muscles. The difference is that now the pain comes along with a flame that doesn’t stop at the top of my thighs.

I try not to think of it, because part of me knows it will be like unleashing a hurricane. At the moment, it is a dull pulse under my pants, a hollow longing at my stomach. I don’t need to acknowledge it; I don’t want to.

“You know you don’t need to ride, right?”

“Well, I haven’t learned how to fly yet, so…”

David rolls his eyes, then grins. “Regina’s got her carriage; I’m sure there’s enough room.”

“Oh, no,” I shake my head, trying to contain the thought before it turns into a trap. “No way, I rather freeze and flay my legs off in that horse.”

“Come on, it won’t be that bad. You can take a nap or something,” He replies, casually.

I’m sure David realized what’s going on; he’s an alpha, after all. But I also know his senses are faded by the fact he’s mated to Mary Margaret. Regina’s heat means absolutely nothing to him. But is it possible that he forgot how it feels?

Then again, how does it feel?

I’ve been in fairytale land for almost an year, and had my time to get used to this. It’s not really any more complicated than being a woman in Storybrooke. In many ways, it’s much simpler. But this whole time, I’ve only been with a beta guy; it didn’t seem very different at all from what I knew. And other omega’s heats? Shit, they were tempting, yeah, but in a more palpable way. Like magnets, or something.

This? This is something else.

“Emma, you’ll be of no help if you fall sick or injure yourself enough so you can’t fight.”

“I’m good, _dad_ ,” I deadpan.

“You can’t walk straight,” He points out. “Stop being so stubborn. This is an order from your commander.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Look, Emma, you’re not a knight, ok? You’ve been here for a short time, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” He says, laying a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m not trying to…”

“Well, I know you. You never cut yourself some slack, you just keep going until you can’t anymore. But not this time; a war is a marathon. You can’t wear yourself out in the beginning. Go to the carriage.”

“But I… Really, I can’t… I just…” The words stumble, as I can’t bring myself to tell him. I can’t go in there, I can’t be enclosed in a wooden box with Regina. I can’t, even if the idea makes my skin prickle everywhere.

“It’s really an order, Ems.” He smiles at me one last time, before walking away, already shouting orders.

I’m left standing there. Fuck him if he thinks I’m one to follow his orders now. I’m not. I just wish I was more inclined to disobey.

  


I knock at the side of the carriage, twenty minutes later. Regina hasn’t poked her head out the whole time we’ve been here, or said anything about losing time, going faster, whipping people to their feet. No word. Nothing. And now everyone’s preparing to get on the move again.

I knock one more time before a growl echoes from inside and she pushes away the curtains and stares at me. The expression immediately changes, from irritated to surprised, and then to something else I don’t even wanna decode. She opens the door.

It’s like she has freed a toxic cloud; it envelops me in a haze so thick I can barely see the surroundings. Immediately, I know what she’d been doing in there. I can smell it, all over her. My heart races to my throat, and I think it’ll jump out if I open my mouth. If I open my mouth, it’ll be like tasting her. The attraction hammers me into myself again; everything I was avoiding to acknowledge takes the reins, and all I can do is to stand there and devour her with my eyes.  

“Ms. Swan,” She greets, her voice as low as a demon’s. I try to shake the dizziness away.

“Hi, hey, so. I’m really done with the horse thing, so I’ll be sitting with your coachman for a while, if you don’t mind,” I explain, trying to avert my eyes - and failing.

“With my… coachman?”

“Yeah, if it’s ok with you.”

“Emma, you are the heir of my most important ally; the other mother to my child; a Captain in our joined army. And you want to ride with my coachman?” She raises a regal eyebrow in that way engineered to make any other person feel small.

“If it’s ok with you,” I repeat, nonchalantly.

“No, Emma, it is not ok. You have to behave accordingly to your rank. If you want to travel in the carriage, you come inside,” Regina hisses, and then backs away, sliding back inside and vanishing in the cool shadow of the vehicle.

I curse under my breath, analysing the idea of going back to Thunder - but I just know she’ll be offended now, and I don’t want that. Also, my legs are really killing me. It’s just the sensible thing to do - I do not feel at all like a cartoon floating to the aroma of an apple pie in someone’s window as I get inside.

  


_Regina_

  


When she comes in, a flutter begins in my chest, descending into my stomach and settling in my venter. I follow her every move as she grabs the archway, steps up and trespasses the door. The carriage is large and comfortable, but right now it feels too small to hold us both and this tension.

“Make yourself comfortable.” I wave at the sit in front of me.

“Thanks,” She says grudgingly, falling into the bench with a grunt.

From outside, Jared asks if we are ready to go. I extend a hand through the window and motion him forward, then close the curtains. In a moment, we’re moving. Emma is looking anywhere but at me, and I am glad as much as I am frustrated by it. Her presence puts me quite literally on the edge of my sit. I haven’t had a cycle this intense in years; I didn’t recall the power of it.

“It’s just a little rest for my legs,” She mumbles more to herself. “Half an hour or so, and I’m out.”

“I don’t intend to evict you; stay as much as you want,” I reply, though this situation is far from as easy as I make it sound.

My body is craving, and Emma’s company will not allow me to try and sooth it. Worst, Emma’s company makes the craving desperate and flammable. She does not answer, and we stay silent for a long time. I watch as she pulls on her collar, opens her coat, stretches her neck. She is restless, and seeing it leaves my mouth dry.

The line of her jaw is as sharp as a razor; her chapped lips only slightly parted as she stares at the window, though the curtains are pulled. There was always something about her that talked to me about strength and determination - and now this something is screaming. The curve of her neck and shoulders is full of valleys I want to fill with my tongue. The thought sends a bolt of electricity down my body, and my clitoris aches.

I cannot even find it in myself to be embarrassed by those thoughts; my body wants her, it wants her despite my better judgement, despite the consequences, despite myself.

Emma cannot completely ignore me either. She steals glances at me, her tongue flicking at her lower lip as if her mouth is running dry. I wonder how it tastes; would it be as delicious as her smell? It is everywhere now, intoxicating my blood with a need so deep I feel my pussy contract.

Every time the carriage rocks a little harder, I shudder, the impact sending shocks into my sex. Emma’s scent hugs me until I am trying to keep my labored breath to myself. Her knee brushes mine lightly and the bolt of electricity leaves me dizzy. My clit is achingly hard, begging me to rub it to relief, but all I can do is clutch my legs tight and muffle my whimpers as the carriage rocks forward and I find myself every second closer to coming.

I won’t be able to avoid this much longer. Emma’s cheeks grow redder as she breathes in my own scent. I know my whole being is calling up to her bare instincts, that is just the way it goes. That biological calling does not mean she wants _me_ , but would she be able to resist if I spread my legs now and begged her to take me?

Dear Lord, what am I thinking of? This does not mean I want her either. On the other hand, there is nothing else I can think of. I am throbbing so bad that the thought of Emma taking me right here in this bench makes me wet my inner thighs with desire.

Then she turns her head and pins those green eyes on me, as if she has read my mind. No, it is much simpler. She is smelling what this thoughts cause me. And as the wheel goes over a pair of roots, swinging further, all I can do is bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood. Emma does not look away, and I cannot avert my eyes either. There is something defiant about this stare that puts me off. I cannot… Oh, God, if I could just hold on… Just a little longer… She licks her lips, looking down at my cleavage, and I am lost. I come.

We cannot look away, even as we pretend that I am not having a silent orgasm in her presence, as we pretend that she cannot sense my heat calling up on her. I am coming so wet I feel it dripping in my underwear, and it takes all that I have not to press harder into the bench. My clit aches with need, spasming spontaneously. And then it is over, although satisfaction is as far away as another galaxy, and I have to close my hands in fists so they do not shake.

Emma gulps, and I can almost hear her heartbeat; the blood pumping in her veins, smelling so woody against her jugular, so primitive and honeyed and raw. I want to bury my face into her neck and taste it.

I take a deep breath, my face pulsating and hot. Emma pulls on her collar again, before clearing her throat.

“I think I’m good now,” She says, and there is a gasp in her voice. “I’ll ask Jared to stop so I can… You know, go down. Only take a moment, ok?”     

“You are not wearing proper garments to ride,” Is all I can say, wetting my lips slightly. “You will injure yourself.”

“Well, kinda late for that, so…”

“How so?”

“I’m pretty fucked up already, I think now the only way is up,” She tries to stand up in the limited space as the carriage goes on.

“Sit down, Emma, we are going too fast,” I warn her. If she towers over me like this for one more second, I do not know what I am capable of doing.

“Will he hear if I shout?” She says, leaning to the window.

“Are you hurt?”

“What?”

“You meant you are hurt?”

She crosses her arms defensively. “I’m just not used to horses, and we’ve been riding like ten hours a day.”

I do not have to ask any further to understand what she is going through. The inside of her legs must be almost raw; suddenly I seem to remember her grimacing and grunting a lot lately. I thought it was just her way of showing how much she did not want to be here, but now I see.

My eyes fall into her jeans and Emma follows. “It’s nothing, ok? It’s getting better already.”

“Open your legs,” I say coolly.

“What-- What… What?”

I look up to find her face a bright red, her lips pink as I have never seen them, and even her neck gaining spots of color as our eyes meet. I cannot help the slight grin pulling at the corner of my mouth. Maybe she _is_ as enthralled as I am. Maybe the thing… the thing I did, did not fade me as an omega as much as I thought.

“I can heal you,” I explain, after letting her squirm for a moment.

“It’s not… That’s not necessary.”

“Why not? It is very simple,” I raise an eyebrow at her. “Are you afraid?”

Emma straightens herself up in the bench, a flash of pain passing through her face as she moves her legs. “Should I be?”

This time my grin is bigger. “I’ll be... _delicate_ , Ms. Swan,” I tease, and her eyes become darker. Now I am just provoking the alpha in her.   

I lean forward and put my hands on her knees; the lightest touch. Then I push them apart, ever so slowly, and all the time her eyes are on mine, her pupils growing wider, devouring the green. Emma does not help nor stops me from spreading her legs apart - then my fingers are climbing her inner thighs, and she opens her mouth as if she cannot breathe. We suck the air in together, this doped air that only leaves us more breathless.

The magic coming from my fingertips flows so naturally I do not have to think about it. Everything within me wants to stop her pain, to give her pleasure, comfort. My hands move up, feeling the heat of the skin under the jeans, the curve of her hard muscles. Is it possible that I can feel the vibration of her blood rushing up under my fingers? Is her skin burning at my touch? Is Emma burning?

I am getting so wet I could slide in my sit.

The purple glow of my magic plays shadows on Emma’s face, and as my eyes comb hers for every bit of desire she might show, she makes the softest sound. Immediately, my magic in her body goes deeper, my fingers claw at her thighs. She shudders, and I swear I could come again.

Then Emma breaks the stare, looking down, drawing my attention. There is an undeniable hard-on lineated through her pants. It is stretching the jeans in what looks like a painful way. The fabric does not leave much room for it, and it needs space, I can see that much. The cylindrical and curved line makes my mouth fill with water. My heart races, my clit throbbing so painfully I do not know how I manage not to climb her lap here and now. Emma freezes. There is not one muscle in her body moving. She is not even blinking.

For a second, everything stays on hold - then, of course, she has to ruin it.

“I don’t know what the fuck… I’m not… I’m not used to this shit. It doesn’t mean… It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just because you are… So my body does… It really, _really_ doesn’t mean anything.”

The words sting more than I would guess. I know the attraction is beyond us, but her disdain feels brutal against my almost-raw self right now.

“Yes, of course,” I drawl, leaning back into my sit. “I am sure you would never truly consider that we could…” I run my tongue through my lips, making time to assure I will find the right tone, “mate.” I grin as if the idea is ludicrous.

“Hell, no,” Emma replies, her jaw still tense, her embarrassment almost palpable. “It’s not like I’m tempted out of my mind,” She snorts, and a bolt of anger runs through my guts.

“Well, why would you be? I am the on cycling, after all,” I say, low enough so she has to make an effort to hear. “And I do not think it could be any clearer that you, Ms. Swan, would probably be my very last choice for a mate.”

“Yeah, I’m aware. You’re more fond of the stableman type, right?” She mocks, and the glow is back in my hands, this time much less benign.

“You do not want to go there,” I hiss.

“You don’t fucking know where I want to go,” She spats back, standing up. I meet her stance, glowering at her.

“Why don’t you tell me, Ms. Swan? Why did you come to this land? Why did you come to this battle, if you are not where you want to be?”

“That’s not what I said!”

“No, I understand. You want my son, you want to be part of this world, and you want to fill in, but anywhere you go, you seem to be stuck with _me_ \- the only thing you do not want!”

“Why the hell do you presume to know what I want, Regina? Most of the time, you don’t fucking have a clue! You don’t look around enough to get a clue, you’re just… grr!”

“What? What am I?!”, I demand, my body rebelling at her proximity. I wish my hate could placate the effects of her scent. I wish her posture right now did not make me wish she was inside me, filling me until everything else was pointless.

“Ladies,” A voice comes from outside as the door is pulled open.

“ _What_?” We both yell, almost sending Jared stumbling back on his arse.

He looks down, blushing deeply. “We just… We arrived at Camp Code for the night, miladies.”

I take a deep breath, realizing Emma is standing _in front_ of me. She jumped to this position as soon as the door was opened, and is all tense shoulders, pumped chest and tilted chin. She might not want me, but nevertheless she stood her ground the moment another person showed. I want to yell at her for the audacity of playing the alpha to me - I am the Queen! But I do not have the time; she is already looking back over her shoulder and shaking her head. 

“Thanks for healing me,” She mutters, “I won’t be bothering you again.”

And then Emma climbs down the carriage and walks away. 

  |    
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	2. Things burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you so much for reviewing and cheering this on! I'm still trying to figure out this omegaverse world, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it. Hope you guys are too. This chap is kind of intense, and I think the next will be reeeeeal nice, if you know what I mean. haha ;)

_Emma_

 

“Emma,” She calls, her voice sibilant like a serpent’s. “Emma, you are hurting.” It isn’t a question. It’s more like a prediction; the moment she says this, I feel it. My whole lower body’s on fire, every beat of my heart a pump of agony. “Let me heal you.”

As I watch in torment, Regina undresses. Her whole body’s wrapped in a purplish glow. She climbs under the blankets with me, and I shudder as our skins brush. The touch of Regina’s magic is like being licked by flames and coming out alive; the sweetest pain. The feeling of our bodies meeting is enough to suck the air out of my lungs and the agony peaks, the throbbing between my legs making even my toes twitch.

“I can’t,” I stammer, my eyes locking into Regina’s; her breath’s close enough for me to taste it. “I can’t take this…”

“I know,” Regina whispers back, her hand closing around my stupidly-stark cock, sending me groaning in dizziness. “But you can take _me_.”

I gasp, feeling how Regina’s thumb crosses the tip of my cock, then slides over a stewed vein all they way to the base, where she grasps tighter. The pressure that’s turning my stomach, venter and thighs into firepits focuses all at once in my shaft and I cry in near despair.

Regina pumps once and I thrust forward, unable to contain myself.

Twice, and I feel like a volcano ready to destroy everything in the way.  

Three times, and I wake up coming in my sheets, thrusting into the mattress as my cock spills in convulsions I have no chance of controlling.

When it’s over, I melt into the bed, my heart racing, my face burning. Earlier tonight, I refused to acknowledge the throbbing problem under my pants, and it kept me awake for hours in the dark, torturing me. I finally fell asleep, and then this. Shit. What the fuck is going on here?

I feel my boner pulsating against the sheets, and it doesn’t feel even slightly relieved. How is that even possible? I don’t have much experience with this, but I had to deal with it time and again since I’ve been in this land. But it was never like this, never so out of control, never so wearing. I make an effort to raise my hips from the bed and curse under my breath as I see the mess I made. Dammit. Well, I’m pretty sure I can spell it clean later, but right now I can’t focus enough to do anything but contain my impulses screaming for me to find a way to make that dream come true.

 _You can take_ me _._

I shudder and my shaft quivers. I need some air.

I groan as I get out of bed, my boner coming up to greet me. There is no way I can fit this into my jeans, so I have no choice but finally give in to the breeches - even then, the bulge is anything but discreet. Luckily the furry coat David got me is long enough to cover it. And these garments really are much more comfortable, if I’m being honest.

I pull the hood over my head as I leave the tent. It’s the middle of the night, and the camp lies asleep and in the dark, except for a fire here and there, around which the men on guard talk in whispers. It’s cold and my breath condensates in the air, spiraling into the night and floating away. I feel so hot I’m surprised my whole body doesn’t produce waves of heat in this arid, freezing night. There should be a cloud of steam around my hips, guessing by the way it feels.

I stare at the big green tent fifty yards away; the biggest in this camp, the most comfortable, and undoubtedly the Queen’s. I must be imagining things, but my skin bristle as I inhale deeply. God help me if I can’t smell her even from here. Is it possible? It’s not faint either; Regina’s scent comes to me like an arrow, like it has a purpose and won’t make any detours. I imagine if she’s awake in there too, unable to forget our afternoon in that carriage. Or maybe - most likely - she doesn’t even care for what happened, except for the fact I embarrassed myself so deeply.

But then I sense it - that slight little change in the smell, same I felt in the carriage, though it took me most of the night obsessing about it to truly understand. I couldn’t believe it, but now I’m almost positive I watched Regina orgasm. The thought makes me throbb painfully, and I feel like going back inside, into my blankets, against the mattress. Only that...I’m smelling it now. Something sweet like dead leaves and wet ground, complex as the weather, impossible for me to describe but easy to pinpoint. It’s Regina in her essence, and I can smell it, god, I can smell her come yards away.

I can’t help but picture her there, in her cot, moaning into the silent tent, touching herself as to not explode with the electricity this night holds. I freeze where I stand, my heart thumping somewhere in my lower belly, my eyes fixed in that shadowy tent, trying to see through it.

Then another shadow moves, crossing the grass and coming near a fire for enough time for me to discern the broad shoulders and the dark uniform of a high-ranked soldier. My body jumps into alert before I understand why, but as the man moves forward, I _know_ where he’s going. And I know he’s an alpha.

He approaches the guards outside Regina’s tent, and I can see all of them exchanging a few words. What I don’t see is that I am myself marching in that direction until I’m almost halfway through. My whole body is wrapped in tension, my muscles hardening at every step. What is he doing there? Is the middle of the night. No time for a meeting. No time for visits. No time for anyone to get anywhere near Regina. Not when she is… When I _know_ she is… The sudden glow radiating from my fingers light up the way. I never felt my magic so ready to burst as I feel it now.

As I watch the soldier go inside, I swear I could tear something - someone - apart. The rage fills me up to the top - I can’t justify it, I can’t make sense of it, but I feel this in every bit of me. The thought of that man, whoever he is, being in there with her, sharing her scent, touching her skin, satisfying her… Something in my chest roars in revulsion, and I will burn this camp down if I have to. He won’t have her. He will _not_ have her.

“Emma. Hey, Emms!” I don’t turn around at the call, I can’t be distracted. But the voice echoes, getting closer. “Swan! Are you deaf, woman?” Someone grabs me by the shoulder and shakes me good-naturally. I spin around, growling from the back of my throat.

Ruby steps away, her hands in the air.

“Hey, I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you,” She says, then grins. “You had a pretty wolfy moment right there, I’m proud.”

“Ruby?” I look around. The man vanished inside the tent. I feel like my chest is gonna explode with this agony.

“Yeah, it’s me. Are you ok? What’s going on?”

“I…” I close my eyes and shake my head, trying to clear it. I have to pull myself together. I can’t be like this. I’m not like this. “I just wasn’t expecting you. What are you doing here?”

“I came as soon as I heard, just freaking got here,” She says, reading in my face I am me again, and stepping closer. “Though I still don’t know much. The green bitch is back, right?”

“Yeah, with some army.”

Ruby hooks her arm in mine. “Well, fill me in.”

 

_Regina_

 

“I am sorry for having disturbed Your Majesty in such late hours,” Jonesy says, managing to bow in a respectful yet proud way. He has been in my army for enough time to have learned a thing or two about who is in charge – no matter who is the omega and who is the alpha.

“No apologies necessary,” I reply, pouring myself a glass of wine. “You did well in coming to inform me of their arrival right away.”

“I’m pleased to serve you.”

When he straightens himself again, our stares meet, and I can feel the blazing steel of his grey irises on me. His posture and his scent give away all I need to know about what is on his mind. He is sensing me too; watching me, wanting me. Once upon a time, the attraction I would exercise on him would be enough to have this big man trembling, his posture on the verge of crumbling down. Alphas love to believe they are in control when mating, but the truth is that a powerful omega might get any alpha on his knees. _We_ are the force, the magic, the nature.

But I am not able to produce this kind of allure any longer. After what I did… I believed my days of cycling would be over for good, but instead I have this hollow echo of what my heats once were. What does not make it easier to go through them. Specially this one.

Still, he wants me. As I access Jonesy’s broad shoulders and square jaw, I think about what a classic specimen of alpha he is. In the flickering light of the torches, his brown beard is full of gold and red nuances. We stay in silence, a moment of pure, raw tension, as my body urges me to make a decision.

It would not be the first time I chose a commoner as a mate; between the sheets, rank rarely matters. I know it would make it easier; it would sooth my needs enough so maybe I could concentrate again in the war we are about to wage. Even now, after half the night rolling in bed, pushing myself against pillows, blankets, against my own hand… After crying myself out in a dozen frustrating orgasms, I feel the pull of my body willing me to go on. I cannot get satisfaction. It is so far from my reach I fear to despair.

Then why am I hesitating?

Is it about loyalty? No. If I took his heart, he would not dare betraying me. And by the lust I read in his eyes, he would willingly give me his heart to keep for the next days. He would do it with a smile.

But then there is this other feeling, battling the physical attraction. It is as if I am dying of thirst, and then I am offered my least favorite beverage in the world. I might need it, it might do me some good, but I will not enjoy it. That is the feeling. I will not enjoy this gorgeous, strong alpha. He is not what I want.

“You can leave now, Lieutenant,” I decide at last, waving dismissively at him.

The disappointment sparkles in his eyes for a brief second, then he bows again. “Your Majesty,” He says, before turning around and leaving me alone again.

The knot in my guts tightens, the vibration descending slowly to my venter, and I feel like screaming. Even the wine tastes sour in my tongue. There is just one thing I know will satisfy my thirst. The one thing I cannot have.

 

_Emma_

 

The fucking breeches work. Yeah, of course there’s also the fact Regina healed my legs. Actually, it feels more like she gave me some new ones. They even _feel_ stronger. I don’t know what shit she did, to be honest, but it works. I am mounting Thunder, and I’m not uncomfortable at all. At least not about riding. The discomfort I feel – gladly still covered by my coat – is of another nature completely.

This one seems like it’s here to stay.

“I heard your pack made quite a stir last night,” I say to Ruby, riding by my side.

“Oh, yeah, some of them were morphed, the guards almost shat themselves,” She smirks, looking very pleased about it. “Derek, our youngest, is almost eight feet tall when he’s morphed. A monster, really. And a sweetheart.”

I chuckle, guiding Thunder to round a fallen branch. “Are you joining us, then? You guys stayed all night talking.”

“It wasn’t unanimous, but we decided to help, if we can. We’re marching with you guys until Lupin’s Tide a bit ahead this way, then we’ll put a call out there to the other packs. We should meet you again in Tegan Fort by the end of the next moon.”  

I nod, looking around. It’s hard to focus on the conversation, even if it’s a welcome distraction. We are now crossing a woody area, and the carriage wouldn’t make it out here, so Regina is riding again. What means she is within the range of my eyes, and that her scent is floating with the wind like toxic pollen.  

“It’ll be good having you on board; thank you, Ruby.”

“Oh, shut up,” She grins, staring ahead. “I don’t know what Zelena might want here, and you know I’m far from being an Evil Queen supporter, but… I guess the devil you know, right?”

I swallow dry, feeling an unease tug in my stomach. “She’s been a good queen, though. Right? Since everyone came back. Building schools and helping with plantations…”

Ruby shrugs. “Time will tell.”

We watch our way for a moment, in a weird silence. All I know is that the Regina that came back is not the one who left. A curse is a powerful thing, and love is even more. And she had her curse, and then she had Henry. She might not be all light – who is? – but to me she’s everyday less darkness. She’s just… Regina.

“But I’ll tell you what,” Ruby speaks again, and when I follow her stare, my eyes land on the back of the woman I’ve been trying to avoid the whole morning. “I’m kinda feeling sorry for her right now.”

“Why’d you say that?” I frown.

Ruby rubs the back of her neck, before glancing at me. “I know these things are relatively new to you, but you’re an alpha, so I’m betting you sensed it…”

“Yeah,” My voice comes in a whisper and I have to clear my throat. “Yeah, I… Yeah.”

“This shit is not easy, you know? I mean, when you are with your mate, in your nest, don’t get me wrong, it’s the closest to paradise any of us will ever get. Some of us fucking live for it,” She says, meaning omegas. Ruby’s one too, but, thank god, she’s not cycling. “But when you can’t do that? It’s _awful_.”

“What… How do you mean?” I mumble, my eyes fixing on Regina’s back even more intently.

“You’re fighting your own body the whole time, and the more you ignore its demands, the worst it gets. It’s like being thirsty, hungry and exhausted all the time… It actually _hurts_ ,” Ruby sighs and shudders slightly. “I don’t even like to imagine. But there she is, keeping it together.”

Yeah, she is. But suddenly a dozen details lighten up to my attention: the way her horse seems uneasy; her harsh voice as she orders people around; how she keeps clawing at the nape of her neck nervously, or how she clutches her stomach every other minute. Is she in pain? And why does this idea hurt _me_?

But then something resurfaces, and I clasp my jaw. “I think she’s found some… help.” I say through gritted teeth. The man going into her tent last night had been an alpha, a Lieutenant. And as Ruby pulled me aside, I never got to see him coming out. For all I know, he stayed there til morning.  

“That’d be the smart thing to do,” Ruby nods, and suddenly I feel like pushing her out of her horse. I’m losing my fucking mind. “But I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that omegas get pretty vulnerable while on heat, and mating is something… like, deeply personal, hard to really control. And… she’s the Queen, going to war. Can’t imagine her giving anyone this kind of leverage over her. Regina doesn’t look like the trusting kind, now does she?”

It’s my time to shrug. I saw the guy going in, but she still looks all tense, bothered by everything around her. If she’s got some help, it wasn’t much helpful, after all.  

Shit, I really shouldn’t be feeling this smug about this.

 

_Regina_

 

I splash water over my face and shudder as the drops scurry down my cleavage. I can see my wavering reflex at the stream’s surface; my flushed face and parted lips. Even the air feels ungodly hot, although one might have thought that was not possible, given the amount of snow around me. But temperature is just a detail now. The snow, the wind or the sun; they all fade when confronted with the hell breaking loose inside of me.   

I wish I did not have to breath, or that I could teleport myself far away from this place - in fact, I have almost done that several times today. I shake my head; the idea is too appealing for me to give it much thought. A Queen cannot be away from her army, it would be foolish and dangerous in a situation like this. Or at least this is what I keep telling myself, every time another reason makes way into my head and holds me here. I cannot be away from _her_. Part of me feels like I would break if I tried, like my soul would be ripped from my body.

The water is cold against my fingers, but my palm is sweating. How long can I keep this up? Pretending I am not losing my mind a bit more every second? When Emma is caught against the wind, when she throws her hair, or sighs… from yards away my body captures her scent, the warm smell of her breath. From yards away, because today she is riding in the rear of the battalion, accompanied by her wolfy-friend. An omega. The growl that scapes my lips makes a guard nearby take a step backwards. The water just evaporated from my flaming hands.

“Your Majesty?” He mumbles, hesitantly.

“Leave me,” I hiss, and he’s quick to obey, although all the privacy he can give me is to retreat twenty yards, to where the rest of my guard awaits as I freshen up.

I feel like curling up at the river bank and rock myself back and forth until I can summon any relief. My shoulders weight a tonne, and if I could just rel... the moment I let the air out and my control slips just a little, I am lost. The desire shots through my underbelly and sex as a dose of poison; in an instant, I am burning beyond any chance of control. The wetness is warm and familiar, running down my panties in such a delicious way I let out a soft moan. My clitoris turns tender and I feel it brushing my underwear’s lace. I get up from the bank, gasping as the movement presses my inner lips together. I have been trying to avoid this kind of need the whole day, but now it is here, making such a pressure on the back of my head I feel dizzy.

My guard has turned their backs from me, to give me some privacy, and I take the chance to stumble to nearest oaktree, hiding myself around it. I press my thighs together, covering my own mouth to choke a moan back. And Emma is all over my mind, her scent caressing my body as a vivid dream. I do not know why my body is so set on her, but it is beyond me to change this. The wanting is so desperate I can barely stand; the tears running down my face are hot and salty, and cannot empty this agony.

If anyone had asked me three days ago, I would have said I am more than used to not getting what I want. Now I am not so sure. It feels like I have never been denied anything I needed so bad. Although I know this is not true. Yet the last time I felt this desperate, I casted a curse in this whole land.

The thought startles me and I hold my breath for a moment.

No. I am exaggerating.

My body is playing me.

I do not desire Emma Swan with the same passion I desired Daniel.

Impossible.

But the feeling is here, burning me from the inside out. Throbbing in my fingertips that want her skin; in my vagina that begs for her cock. If she was inside of me, oh, please, if she just was inside of me…

The pressure builds until I am sobbing between moans, and my hand looks for the end of the dress, desperate to release my orgasm before I lose my mind.

“Your Majesty?”

The call barely stops me; the dress is up, my underwear is so damp I can feel my hard clit through it. Just a rub, just…

“Your Majesty,” The guard goes on, although I can hear the hesitation on his voice. “King James asks for you, my Queen.”

I stop on the verge of orgasming, my clit pumping, sore with need.

“I am coming,” I answer after a moment, thinking _no, I’m not_ as I drop my hand.

 

_Emma_

 

“Why are we stopping?” I ask, standing up on my saddle so I can check up ahead. It doesn’t really work, cause there is literally thousands of people on the way.

“I’m guessing the river,” Ruby says, sipping on her leather flask. “There’s a bridge, but the soldiers will have to line up.”

“But we just crossed the river?” I arch an eyebrow and Ruby snorts.

“City girl,” She mocks, handling me the water. “That was just a stream; a branch from the Lupin River, which is no shit huge. You’ll see.”

“Hope it doesn’t take us all day to get through, though,” I mutter.

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet,” She replies, and as I follow Ruby’s eyes, I get what she means. David is galloping toward us with a troubled look on his face.

We prompt our horses forward to meet him, my stomach sinking as I go through the possibilities on my mind. So many things might have gone wrong…

“What’s going on?” I ask when we catch up to each other, before he even can catch his breath.

“The bridge’s down,” He announces. “Crumbled down the river, there’s no way of getting through.”

“And what else?” I urge him, frowning.

“I guess we’ll have to follow the river until a point shallow and frozen enough for an army to cross, if we don’t have any other choice.”

I don’t understand - is this why he looks so preoccupied?

“That’s it? You have a fallen bridge?” I ask, and he nods gravely. “Are you kidding me? Regina can probably fix that with a wink. I mean literally. She probably can literally blink the bridge back.”

“Well, she can not,” David says, running a hand through his face. “She has been trying for the last fifteen minutes, and she just…”

“What? What’s going on?” I demand, unable to wrap my mind around this. Regina can’t use her magic for this? He’s gotta be shitting me. I’ve seen her build and destroy so many stuff, she’s probably more effective than the Property Brothers.

“Can you come out and see? Maybe help?” David looks at me, and I finally understand why he’s so troubled.

If Regina really can’t focus enough to put a bridge back in place, how is he supposed to trust her with war strategy? In a battle? Against Zelena? If Regina can’t use her magic, we’re pretty much doomed.

“Yeah, sure. I can help,” I say, although I’m not so sure. I’m immediately afraid I will be even more useless about this. Just thinking in approaching her leaves my head and my body in such a mess, for a moment I don’t recall how I’m supposed to make Thunder move.

But then I think that if I make Thunder move, soon I’ll be beside her. And I’m on my way faster than I should, leaving David, Ruby - and my dignity - behind as I go.

 

Regina looks over her shoulder to me when I’m still a hundred feet away, but I’m moving fast. I know she smelled me arriving, and although I can’t really make up her expression from this far, I notice she straightens herself, and the ruins of the bridge - that had been floating over the river, involved in purple light - crumble again into the shattered ice-water.

My heart is thundering against my ribcage as I dismount and stalk towards her. Regina doesn’t turn around; she doesn’t need to see me approaching. I bet she’s as painfully aware of me as I am of her. Today her smell feels like a punch, and the hard-on under my pants feels like a steel rod, ready to knock me out. I swear I can smell her blood, the heat of it. I can smell her sweat, her breath, the light perfume on her wrists. And more. So many shades I swallow dry.

“Regina?” I call, a step away. “What’s going on?”

“What do you _think_?” She barks back, and I wince.

“You can do this.”

“Shut up, Ms. Swan. I do not need a pep talk.”

“Ok, but maybe you need me?” I murmur, and that grants me a look. She turns around and we are face to face.

Fucking jesus, was she always this gorgeous? I want to lick the scar above her lip, trace that plump mouth with the tip of my tongue, slide in and take hers. Suck on her taste until we’re both drunk. I don’t know how much of it shows on my face, but I guess it’s enough for Regina to blush. My cock is so goddamn hard I have to stand with my legs apart - and she notices it.

“It is just a bridge, I could manage it in my sleep,” She spats after a moment.

“Yeah, except that you clearly can’t,” I wave at the ruins dotting the river bank. Regina’s hand light up with power, and something tells me that if she directs it towards _me_ , it _will_ work.

“If you leave me be,” She says in a low, sibilant voice. Much like the one in my dream. My skin prickles, “I will concentrate enough to get this done.”

“Alright,” I shrug and cross my arms. “Go on, then.”

Regina sets her jaw, the glowing in her eyes as dangerous as the one in her hands, but she won’t tell me to leave. She won’t admit she can’t focus having me around. And if I thought it’d help, I’d back away, but I don’t think so. We are being attracted to each other gravity-like, can’t be helped.

She turns her back on me again, takes a deep breath and extends her hands. The purple light of her magic this time is so faint I barely see it. The shrapnels in the water quiver slightly, but don’t float. Regina has to will them back into position, this I know. She has to want it with her guts, make nature bend to her will. That’s the principle of magic. But she can’t. She just can’t, and I see this taking a toll on her.

So I step forward and place a hand on her shoulder.

I wish there was a word for how it feels. I’ve never been hit by a lightning, but it shouldn’t be much different. Except that… it’s like my chest swells and my heart wants to burst with emotion, too, not only electricity. Her warmth, and scent, and skin, and the life of her vibrating under my fingers… It all become the most beautiful and powerful things in the universe. They are everything to me. She’s everything.

And then she crumbles into my arms. I have to jump ahead to be able to fully catch her, but it’s no trouble, because I can sense her in an almost supernatural way. I wrap my arms around her, keeping her up, and then gently easing us both to our knees on the ground. She’s lump against me, but she hasn’t passed out. It’s just too much, this is too much.

“My Queen?” The Lieutenant calls, daring to step closer.

“ _Get out_ ,” I tell him, and my voice never sounded so edgy, so threatening before. He doesn’t challenge me - only backs away.

Regina is straightening herself again, but I’m not letting her go, I can’t.

“You can do this,” I whisper. “We can do this.”

I grab her hand, and the lightning strikes again. This time my magic comes up to meet hers, and we blast into the sky with a potency I’ve never seen or felt before. Her eyes bore into mine, and our heartbeats thunder together. I can feel it. She can, too. We are one power, a greater power capable of bending the universe.

My fingers squeeze hers, and I will my magic to go deeper. I don’t know what I’m doing, but Regina moans in silence and tightens her hold too. It’s my time to gasp as her power breaks through me, filling me up with something I can’t name. It’s all over me, it’s part of me, and it’s part of her. I think about how much I want this woman, how much I want to ease our agonies away with kisses, how I want to make our bodies and souls complete. I want to devour her, to adore her, to give her all she wants and take what I need so desperately.

I swear I could take her right here.

She’s looking at me and I just know she wants me to do it. Right in this moment? Fuck, she’s mine. I feel the burning throbb between her thighs, calling upon me like a spell. I know she feels mine too. My fingers tighten the grasp in her hand and I know one more thrust of my magic and I could make her come. In my arms. Right here. No control over it. She’d be mine. No way to hide it. Mine. Coming in her panties, moaning in my arms, filled by my magic. Mine. I can do it.

I don’t do it.

With my heart drumming in my ears, I retreat.

I look at the bridge like a woman in a dream. Regina’s already pushing away from me. Did all this last longer than five seconds? Probably not. And I got so close from… being awful, just awful.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” I mutter, but Regina won’t look me in the eyes.

She must be hating me. I was so close to take advantage of… God, I’m horrible. Regina said she’d never choose me, and even so I almost…

I stare at the bridge and wish with all my might a way to escape.

It falls back into place in the blink of an eye.

 

_Regina_

 

When Lupin’s Tide finally looms in the horizon, the next day, my fingers are clutching the reins so tightly they feel rigid and sore. I do as much as turn my head to the side, and a guard rides forward to attend me - they have been on high alert the whole day, and I did not have to look at them to notice.

“How can I serve you, Your Majesty?” Duncan asks with an awkward, mounted courtesy.

“Ride ahead to the village and make sure the inn is empty and ready for my arrival,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “This should pay for the landlord’s trouble.” I issue a small leather purse from my robes and a few coins tinkle inside.

“So will be,” She replies as the purse settles in her palm. “Anything else, my Queen?”

For a moment I almost say _Yes, I want someone to track down Emma Swan_ , but instead I dismiss Duncan with a wave and watch as she speeds towards the gates.

Emma vanished last night, and her absence is like a knife being constantly twisted in my guts. David did not seem worried in the least when the subject came up in this morning council meeting. “She’s with Ruby”, He said, shrugging, like this meant she could not possibly be unwell.

_She is with Ruby._

This idea is ripping me apart even more.  

“Can I interest Your Majesty in a cup of wine?” I turn around to face a young beta trotting a little closer, a flask on his hands.

Earlier today I had to cast an alpha out of my personal guard for he had disturbed me twice. Before I did that, they were all riding so close to me our horses had to move in synchrony. And even after, they cannot seem to stay away. They cannot, because my body is yelling with all its power, trying to allure _her_ back. Wherever she is, I have to bring her back to me - this is the only thing in my mind, like a fly buzzing inside my head and driving me to the depths of despair.

“Step back, soldier,” I tell the beta, and he lingers for a moment before lowering his head and riding to the back of the formation.

My hands are even tighter around the reins, holding onto the tenuous thread of control I still have.

At this point, I cannot separate my desire from the pain. The torturing movement of my body against the saddle makes my clit twitch and swell, my mind floating back to yesterday when Emma held me in her arms and filled me with her magic. She seemed so close from taking me, so close that thinking about it now turns me on in a maddening way. The goosebumps running through my skin leave me raw, and I can barely keep myself from moaning, rocking myself against the saddle’s pommel.

And then she did not. Emma dropped me, and she looked at me as if disgusted by the idea of having almost given in. Then I cannot reach an orgasm or any kind of relief, thinking about that stare. It feels like she is dropping me again, on the verge of greatness, leaving me empty handed and bursting with need.

Until I remember again the feeling of her arms.

And I get so overwhelmingly wet.

But she is still not here.

She is with Ruby.

The scream in the back of my throat is ripping me from the inside out. I feel the fire in the pit of my stomach exploding into my venter and my heart races. The soldiers around muffle a round of growls and moans as my body bolts with heat. Emma does not come, and I feel in the end of my forces.

 

More than one soldier sway as they dismount around me when we reach the village. It is small and simple; it cannot possibly hold this many people, so the army will camp around its limits. But I will have a proper bed tonight, with proper walls separating me from anyone else. I will give me this attempt of peace, before I lose what is left of my mind.

“My Queen,” Jonesy calls, standing by my horse. “Can I assist you?”

I am not sure of why I let him - maybe because the way he is looking at me is so different from the way Emma did. Jonesy grabs my waist and lowers me from the saddle, our bodies brushing slightly on the way. His face is flushed when my feet touch the ground, and he does not let me go. He would take me in any opportunity I gave him, and would never regret it. This I know.

We could wreck a proper bed.

“Regina!” The voice is a shock, and my veins teem with desire and relief and anger.

I whisk Jonesy away as I turn to the woman standing in the porch, over which hangs a board reading The Bucket.  

“What are you doing here?” I demand, but my head is already answering. _She is with Ruby. Wrecking a proper bed._ I feel my heart ticking like a bomb.

“What do you think?” She spats back, her cheeks growing red, her eyes darkening as she glares at the Lieutenant. “There is only  one inn in this town, I wanted to make sure we’d have beds.” She goes on when I refuse to answer, approaching me and making sure Jonesy steps away.

“Oh, I will have a bed, Ms. Swan. Duncan made sure I would have enough to chose from.”

“Yeah, we bumped. You’re not having the whole inn to yourself,” Emma says, crossing her arms.

“I am not in the mood for your stunts,” I warn her, stepping closer. From the corner of my eye, I catch the movement in the inn’s entrance. Out comes Ruby and an older bearded man that is surely the landlord.

“Ma-My Queen,” The man stammers, bowing deeply. “I have just cleared the upst--”

“He threw his guests out in the street for you!” Emma interrupts.

“He was well compensated for it,” I hiss. I can smell Ruby’s omega scent; she is not on heat, but if Emma feels anything for her, it would be distractive enough for her to be able to ignore me.

“Are you compensating the guests too? Or your injured officers that need attend--”

“I am the Queen and you will not talk to me this way,” I step even closer and talk in such a low voice Emma has to watch my mouth to read the words. I wish the move did not make me shiver.

“And I am _the Savior_ ,” She mutters back, “And I don’t knee to you, never had.”

“Get out of my way,” I tell her. The energy building up in my stomach is fire and pain. It is bigger than me. Emma glances for half a second over my shoulder, where I can still smell Jonesy’s presence, and holds her ground.

“No.” She is glowing white.

I glance at Ruby by the door, the one with whom she vanished the whole day, and the energy bursts at once. “Get _OUT_!”

The flames come out of thin air, biting at the inn with the force of a thousand torches. They glow purple and feel as hot as the sun, making Ruby and the landlord jump forward into the street. Emma, however, barely looks over shoulder before grabbing my arm roughly and shaking me out of it. The fire disappears as if someone turned off a switch. As happened yesterday, the moment she touches me, she is all I can deal with.

“Are you fucking mad?” She says through gritted teeth, still squeezing my arm painfully. But before I can answer, Emma drags me inside.

 

_Emma_

 

The once cozy and lightly-painted inn is now dark and smoky as we step inside. The new somber and steaming decoration surely matches my fucking mood as I pull Regina through the small saloon.

“Get off of me!” She yells, yanking her arm away from my grip. The last thing I want is to get off of her, but as she glares at me I have no guts to grab her again. “What are you doing?”

“Me? Are you kidding? You just burned down a whole building!”

“It obviously did not burn down, since we are standing under its roof,” Regina drawls, her eyes still balls of fire ready to annihilate me. It’s not enough to keep me away.

“Look, I know this has been hard on you,” I start, but my voice falters when she takes a step closer.

“Do not be complacent with me,” She whispers in a dangerous tone, and my heart jumps to my throat. Her scent today is the like an iron-cast chain around my neck. I spent the whole day trying to run from it, and now that I’m within its reach, I know I’ll follow it hell down if need be.

“I’m not being complacent,” I reply, leveling her stare. “But you can’t just go around burning stuff! You have to control yourself, dammit!”

“Oh, you’re one to talk!” Regina says, raising the thick sleeve of her robes. My eyes pop and I gulp when I see the marks there. My hand, my whole hand, fingers and fingerprints burned into her skin like an imprint.

“Oh, shit,” I whisper, staggering forward. “Shit, I’m so sorry.” The sting in my chest is enough to make me dizzy. I hurt her, I actually fucking hurt her. “I’m so sorry, Regina.” The crack in my voice seems to throw her out of balance, and the combat posture crumbles a little.

“This is nothing,” She says, running a hand through the bruised skin and healing it completely. It doesn’t make me feel any better. I want to kiss the pinkish spots in her skin, make sure there is no pain, no, any pain.

“I didn’t mean to… Please, forgive me.”

“It is ok, Emma.” She replies after a moment, turning away and pretending to study the room. “I can fix this place, too. It will be better than new.”

“None of this is ok,” I whisper, running my hands through my hair. I’ve been so fucking selfish these days, only thinking about me and what I want, and what I am supposed to do. And every day I’m closer from fucking everything up. “I think I should go. Back home, I mean.”

That brings her eyes back to me.

“What? Why?”

“I’m clearly over my head with this,” I say, my cheeks growing warmer. I hate to admit this kind of thing even in the best scenarios, and this is not one of those. Admitting my weakness to her? In this situation? The only reason why it’s not unbearable is because hurting Regina is. “And I think I’m getting in your way, too, even when I try not to.”

She stares at me in silence, reading me as if I’m naked and my body’s telling her everything. It probably is. The way my cock’s still pouding, and my temples bursting with every heartbeat. I’m sweating in this freezing cold weather, and I can’t even step away from her without feeling like I might break. But I will step away, I will back away, run away if that’s what I have to do to keep her well.

“How can you get in my way if you disappear for whole days?” She asks, the bitterness in her voice enough to puzzle me.

“What are you talking about?”

“You were awol since yesterday!”

“I rode ahead with Ruby’s pack,” I explain, raising an eyebrow. “David knew.”

“Oh, right, with _Ruby’s_ pack!” Regina spats, marching towards me. “Are you a wolf now, are you? Or did you just need a distraction from duty, Captain?”

“I don’t see the big d--”

“Is that why you want to go back home? I am sure ‘Ruby’s pack’ would love to keep you company on the way!”

“You’re not making any sense,” I tell her, watching mindfully Regina’s glowing hands. “Ruby’s pack will _fight_ with us. And the only reason for me to mention going back is so that you can be… Fuck, I don’t know! Free of me, I guess.”

“Why?” She demands, her breath hot and alluring, almost in my face. “What makes you think I need to be freed of you?”

“To fuck your loser Lieutenant, for once,” I say before I can stop myself. And shit, I didn’t plan letting this out.

“Like you could stop me if I wanted to do that!”

That was not the answer I was expecting, but my heart is racing enough to leave me lightheaded. “And don’t you? Don’t you?”

Regina doesn’t answer, and we just stare at each other for a few moments, the tension filling the air with the promise of another raging fire. Then I shake my head. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. I’m losing my fucking mind!”

“You cannot leave me,” Regina replies at last, and there’s no more anger in her voice. Her tone is pure sex appeal, sweet and rough, like an enchant. My skin prickles everywhere as I try to wrap my mind about the sentence. “You are the Savior, you said it yourself,” she completes as if an afterthought.  

“Yeah, but sometimes it doesn’t mean shit,” I notice the words coming out puffy. We are so close, when did we get this close? Her body’s entrancing me, her voice is a trap, her scent is a cage. I have this feeling we’re just playing a fucking dangerous game. A kind of strip-poker, but we keep undressing our emotions. And we’re not very good at it.

“I need…” She starts, and my stomach twists, sensing some bra-like sentiment coming off. “There is no...one else. I need your help.”

My cock throbs in response, as if trying to pierce my breeches and reach her. My hands want it too, desperately. And so does my heart, it seems, thundering against my ribcage like it wants to live in Regina’s chest now or something.

“Are you… saying what I think you’re saying?”

Regina’s eyes become careful and somewhat helpless. Then suddenly I remember Ruby’s words. _Omegas get pretty vulnerable while on heat, and mating is something… like, deeply personal._ I’m at once touched and scared, and vulnerable too. I find myself wishing too intensely that this means Regina trusts me, but I can’t fully bring myself to believe it. We obviously can’t fight this anymore, and I am… the Savior. Pretty much the obvious choice. Is that it? And is that what I want?

“We both need to keep our heads above the water from now on, wouldn’t you say?” She replies, and that’s far from satisfying, so I press on:

“Yeah, but wasn’t I like your last choice ever for a mate?” The words come out rougher than I planned, and the tension around Regina’s mouth tightens.

“I am not talking about _mating_ ,” She says, her eyes fleeting for a second, then coming back to meet mine.

“Then _what_ are you talking about?”

Regina hesitates, as if searching for the words, before exhaling. “It is not mating unless we… Unless you get…” The embarrassment coloring her cheeks is so sexy I’m close to losing it. But I don’t need her to finish the sentence, I know what she means. Unless I’m inside her, unless we come together, connected, it’s not mating. Only thinking about it makes my shaft twitch.

“So…” I frown, wetting my chapped lips. “You don’t want to mate, just… have sex?”

“Well,” Regina follows the movement of my tongue for a moment, then gulps. “Yes.”

  


  


	3. An agreement is made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should warn you, guys: this chap is veeeery NSFW. :P

_ Regina _

 

“So…” Emma starts, a puzzled look creasing her brow. The tip of her tongue runs through her lips, barely there and then gone, and I feel my mouth running dry. “You don’t want to mate, just… have sex?”

“Well...” I say, gulping. Is that what I meant? Her proximity leaves me both stunned and sober, if that is anyhow possible. Yesterday I could not bring a bridge back together, today I burned an inn without meaning to. To pretend I am equipped to deal with this is foolish and dangerous. I am, too, over my head. Yet, something within me closes the door when she mentions mating with such disdain. I cannot be without her, and I cannot completely have her. So is this what I meant? “Yes.”

It seems to catch Emma off guard; maybe she was expecting me to be less direct or back away completely. I do not know, but I can see she was not expecting  _ this _ . Her eyes are barely green now, dark enough to reflect my reddened face. She does not step away or avert her eyes, though. I wonder if she can hear the thunderous beat of my heart, and pray that she does not. If Emma is about to deny me, I rather she would not listen to the effects of it on me.

Then she opens her mouth and out comes an “Ok,” whispered almost casually.

“Ok?” I press, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’m in. I mean… I’m not  _ in _ … Cause that would be...” She bites on her lower lip, interrupting herself, thank God. “I… agree?”

“Oh,” Is all I can come up with.  

“Oh?”  _ She  _ presses. 

“We have an agreement, I suppose.”

“Should we shake hands on it?” She mocks, crossing her arms. “Sign something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scold, though my heart has not eased its rhythm. 

“Then… How do you wanna do this?” This time she does not sound pretentious, only… edgy? I quite like it, actually. And the way she looks at me makes a chill run down my spine. It is as if a very thin layer of control is holding her back now, and I can rip it with the smallest gesture. So I do it; I lower my eyes to her lips, those pale, cold-ragged lips, and then Emma’s hand fly up to meet my hair. The back of my neck prickles with the promise of her touch, my breath in suspension. 

“What happened here?” David demands, storming into the room. Emma and I break apart as quick as a lightning, a split second before he is in front of us. “Can any of you explain this?” 

“It was an accident,” I say coolly, lifting my chin when Ruby and the landlord step inside too. From the door by the back of the room other two men and a woman sneak into the saloon, wearing scorched garments, but looking otherwise unbothered by the flames. Probably the inn servants. “Just an accident,” I add, swirling my hand in the air as I look around.

My magic covers the walls, the ceiling, the floor; every piece of furniture, and even the servants clothes, are suddenly bright. And when the glow is gone, the whole building is back to what it was. It does not take a minute, and it is as easy as breathing. By my side, Emma whistles.

“Yep, guess that solves it,” She says, and there is the shadow of a grin tugging the corner of her mouth. 

David seems bewildered by the whole scene for a moment, then he exhales and straightens himself. “Mr. Wyatt,” He starts, turning to the landlord. “We apologize for the scare, but I believe no permanent harm has been done.”

“No, sir,” The man shakes his head. “This place don’t look this good since my pop was alive.”    

“Well, great. Could you please bring us some ale and bread, then?” He asks, turning around to face me again. “The Generals are just outside. I guess this is as good a moment as any to discuss our next steps.”

In actuality, this is the worst moment possible, and the temptation of throwing all of them out and resume my activities with Emma is almost irresistible. Only David is already making himself comfortable, and so is Ruby. I exchange a glance with Emma and read in her eyes the same haste I feel rushing through my veins.  _ She said yes. She wants me.  _ My heart skips a beat, and my clit catches it. Then she shrugs - so discretely it is almost imperceptible - and makes way to the couch. 

The glare I direct at the back of her head must burn, because Emma makes a sudden turn from sitting besides Ruby and launches herself in an armchair by her father’s left. I sigh heavily before easing myself into a chair and crossing my legs. 

“Alright,” I say, watching as the Generals come in and bow respectfully. “Let’s get started.”

The men dry up almost an entire barrel of ale as we discuss our positions over and over. I play with a tall glass of wine, but nothing can stop my mouth from running dry every time my eyes cross paths with Emma’s. She is growing impatient, and this realization starts a throbbing up between my legs. 

“It’s clear she’s prepared for a siege,” David points out, “Scouts say she looted the near villages, but is already retreating back to Tegan. She knows we won’t be able to invade the Fort, or crumble the walls. She chose the place rather wisely.”

“She will not put up with a siege,” I argue, shaking my head. “Zelena is not this patient nor this cold blooded. She will attack, this I am sure of.”

“I’d bet in that too,” Emma agrees, taking a look at the map over the dinner table. “And look at this. She’s in a super strategic point, she’ll be able to see us coming for miles. She’s at the top of a hill, and we’ll have to cross a valley… We’re basically screwed.” 

“Wow, Emms, your optimism is touching,” Ruby deadpans, then elbows Emma’s ribs. I have to close my hands in fists to control the need to set  _ her  _ on fire. “The packs can actually help with that. We make great scouts, and this area is pretty wooded. We can make sure she won’t ambush you guys, at least.”

“That would be invaluable,” General Atticus says in his solemn voice. 

“Yeah, thanks, Ruby,” Emma adds, rubbing the woman’s back shortly. 

“Glad to help,” She replies with an easy smile.

“Well, let’s wrap this up,” I interrupt before I cannot stop myself from killing an  _ invaluable  _ ally. “Tomorrow we will lay out strategies for our attack.”

David stretches in his chair. “I suppose you’ll stay here?”

“Yes,” I reply, looking him in the eye. “I will have the inn for myself tonight.” 

“Ok by me,” He says, standing up. “We’ll be at the camp if you need us.”

“I’m actually off with the pack. We’ll be leaving tonight,” Ruby informs, finishing her mug of ale. I cannot say I am sorry to hear this.

“I suppose you  _ could  _ have a room in the first floor, if you like,” I say softly to Emma. She looks up into my eyes and the grin she offers me raises chills down my arms.

“Compromising, Your Majesty?” She mocks, but the stare is dead serious.

Instead of answering, I snap my fingers at a servant, “Prepare me a bath. I mean to be in bed in an hour.”

I do not have to face Emma to know she got the message.     
  


_ Emma _

 

I raise my hand to knock, but don’t. Standing here, in front of her door, with even my fingertips pulsating with expectation, I feel frozen. I’m scared to go in - God knows I have no idea of what’s waiting for me inside -, but then her scent comes and gets me through the gap under the door, and I’m unable to turn around and walk away.  

Who am I trying to fool? Regina offered the best deal I could expect to get out of this. I could never walk away. Maybe what’s holding me out here is that I’m afraid she’ll have changed her mind. What’s a pretty stupid thing to do, so I knock.

Shit, I knocked.

She opens the door almost immediately, and I wonder if she was expecting me. I mean, of course she was, she invited me… sort of. But, was she waiting for me by the door? Was she anxious too? Then I think she probably smelled me out here, standing for five minutes in her doorstep like a moron, and I want to slap myself. 

“Good evening, Ms. Swan,” She says a bit too formally, even more so if I’m here as a booty call. 

“Ahm, hi.” Regina’s wearing a thick scarlet robe over what looks like a maxi nightdress, and her hair is down. She looks and smells very fresh, and I see a double bed against the wall. Suddenly it occurs to me that I may have gotten it all wrong, and she wasn’t inviting me in. Maybe she really just wanna go to bed. “Is it… bad timing?”

“No, you’re on time,” She concedes, stepping to the side and gesturing for me to go in. I try not to sigh in relief. “Can I offer you some wine?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

“A cup of mead, perhaps?”

“I’m not really thirsty,” I reply, scanning the room quickly and turning back to face her. 

“Hungry, maybe? I have apples…” She approaches a sideboard where a fruit basket rests. 

“Been there,” I say, and that earns me a glance over her shoulder. “I mean, no, thanks.”

“Well, then,” Regina sighs, throwing her hands as if giving up. “I am not very good at small talk, so we might as well…”

“Is this awkward to you?” I ask, watching as she sits on the edge of the bed. 

“You are not making any effort for it not to be, are you now?”

“But it was  _ your  _ idea.”

“You agreed to it!” She bounces back, narrowing her eyes at me. “Are you having second thoughts? We still can call this whole thing off--”

“No.” I interrupt, shaking my head. My heart goes off without consent, and I get even more painfully aware of how much I want this. Despite everything that could go wrong. I stalk towards her, stopping right in front of Regina. “I’m not changing my mind. Are you?”

She takes a moment, looking up to meet my eyes, then shakes her head very slowly, “I am not. But if this agreement turns out not to work for any or bo--”

I break the flow of words by raising a hand to her neck. Regina stops talking, her eyes like orbs of fire under the torch lights. Then I kiss her. I feel her breath halting, then it comes warm and moist when she opens her mouth slightly. My lips are not soft or full, I know that, but Regina doesn’t seem to mind. She bites and sucks on my lower lip, summoning a moan from the back of my throat. My cock, that had been barely under control until now, comes up with full force, stretching my jeans. 

I trace her plump lips with the tip of my tongue, break through the smooth barrier of her teeth and enter her mouth, taking it. Her hands land on my hips, so hot my skin burns under the jeans, my heart races. I suck her tongue and Regina lets out a whimper, parting her lips further, giving in to me. I thought her smell would drive me crazy, but it’s nothing compared to the way she tastes, the way she feels. Her hair slips between my fingers, warm and thick, my thumb caressing the curve of her neck and raising a chill I love to feel under my fingertip. 

And just like that, all doubt is gone. I know none of us is backing away, there’s no chance we could give this up. So maybe I’m not her choice for a mate, and I can’t honestly say I’m prepared to be with her in some wholesome way, but right now, we need this, and we’ll have it. Right now, we’ll do it, and it’s already too good to measure. 

My left hand goes down the front of her robe, my right still tangled in her locks, pulling her closer into my kiss. I undo the tie, push the robe from her shoulders, and it falls around her hips on the bed when she lowers her arms to her sides. I break the kiss to look into her eyes, absorbing her humid breathing as my hands run up her arms. Regina shivers, her skin bristling at my touch, and I kiss her again, hungrier this time. 

Her fingers claw at my lower back as I slide my mouth over to her chin and down her neck. I hook a finger around the noodle strap of her nightdress and pull it down her shoulder, clearing the way for my teeth and tongue. Regina fumbles with the end of my shirt, but when her touch trespasses the fabric and land on my waist I swear I’m eletric enough to light up a whole town. I growl low by her ear, suck on her earlobe and Regina responds by pulling me tighter, her nails biting into my skin. 

I grab a handful of hair from the back of her neck and bring her lips to mine again; her mouth doesn’t just welcome me, it pulls me deeper, like a fucking ocean flow, drowning my thoughts. But it’s okay, because we’re together now, and she feels me. Regina slides back on the bed the moment I prop a knee between her legs and hoist myself up. I lay her down, she pulls in me with her, and our bodies meet, our mouths fit, we’re together now. 

Her nightdress go up when she bends her knees, and suddenly I can place myself between her legs. When her hips go up to meet me, I see stars. Regina bites my lower lip, claw at my back, shuddering. My cock is so hard it could burst out of my pants, and though all I can feel is Regina’s warmth, it’s enough to make me groan. I push myself into her, and she wraps me with her legs. My teeth sink into the flushed skin of her neck and before I can think of anything else, she’s shivering and panting under me, her nails scratching my lower back and leaving burning lines behind.

When the trembling easies a little, I prop myself in one hand to look at her flustered face, my heart thumping in my temples. “Did you just…?” She kisses me before I can finish the sentence, and her tongue is cold, even sweeter, and the whole room smells like ripe fruit, rain, magic and sex. The scent of her come is so overwhelming I can barely think straight. Shit, I can’t think straight at all.

I kiss the line of her throat, sucking and leaving a trail of round red little marks, while my hands tug at her nightdress straps, then pull on her cleavage, exposing her breasts. Regina moans when I mouth a nipple, noticing how hot it feels against my tongue, how hard it feels between my teeth. Her hands are in my hair, her body arching and squirming under mine, and I want to devour her whole. 

I find the way between her thighs, my fingers brushing the damp fabric of her underwear, and she whimpers louder. I can feel the hard bud of her clit lineated against the silk and can’t resist to push her panties aside to touch it. I brush my middle finger over her clit with a delicacy I didn’t know I had in me. She’s so wet I lose my breath - I don’t think I’ve ever touched anyone so aroused. It feels amazing, and my shaft in sore within the contention of my pants. I want to know her body, all of it, sliding my fingertips by her inner lips, circling the clitoris, probing her entrance. 

“Oh, ouch,” I gasp when Regina suddenly sinks her teeth on my shoulder. The pain seems to throb in every bit of my body.

“I will not beg,” She hisses, but her voice is so strained, her body so tense, I’m not so sure that’s true. Anyway, I’m not interested in seeing her begging. I want her to lose her fucking mind, just as I have. 

I fit her swollen clit between my two middle fingers, pressing it between them and motioning my hand in circles. “Is this what you want?” I whisper into Regina’s neck, but she’s already charging her hips against my touch and throwing her head back.

I feel her wetness reaching into my palm and wrist, the stiffness of her clit between my fingers, and I can sense the ball of fiery energy building up inside her. Regina’s heart is beating like crazy, and I can smell the hot gush of blood rushing into her sex, swelling it into a delicious, ultra sensitive bomb. I can make it blast, fuck, I can make her come in my hand right now, if I want to. Or I can make her wait...

“Don’t stop! Emma, don’t stop!” She tells me, the words coming out ragged and followed by a stream of groans and sobs. Somehow I know it takes a bit of a toll on her, to ask me this. To voice her need and admit out loud she is - literally - in my hands. So I don’t stop, I press my fingers together, massaging her clit between them, and Regina explodes with a yelp that sends me shivering. 

She shakes so hard and for so long I lose track of time. Her come floods my whole hand, luscious and warm against my palm. Regina’s cheeks are of a bright red, her nipples hard, the tips so protruding I have to lean in and suck on them. She moans, runs her nails through my nape and scalp, and the gooseflesh is so intense I gasp. 

“Don’t you…?” She starts, panting, groping my hips, moving to the front of my pants. 

“Not ye-- oh,  _ fuck _ .” The button is up and the zipper is down so fast I’m pretty sure she did it magically. My cock almost jumps out of the jeans, stretching my boxers to transparency. 

“Yes,” Regina whispers almost to herself, but the word makes me shiver. Her hand wraps my hard-on, and my eyes roll in pleasure. I can’t move. I can’t breathe. “Take it off,” She demands, pushing my jeans down my ass, rushing it out. I kick it off my feet, and her hand is already grabbing me again, enveloping my cock and sliding through all its length.

It’s like I’m made of nerve endings, and she’s electrifying. My lower belly contracts, my shaft quivers, and I feel the rush of warmth in my face and breasts. Suddenly, my nipples and lips are throbbing, and the erection in Regina’s hand thunders stronger than my fucking heart. The look of amazement on her face isn’t helpful either. She seems to enjoy touching me as much as I did touching her, but I don’t think that is really possible. Anyway, I’m really trying to tell her to stop, that I don’t want to come yet, but somehow every time I open my mouth, the only thing that comes out is a moan. 

My boxer is lost at some point, and then there is nothing between us. I feel so hard it’s kinda painful, and there’s this faint purple glow around Regina’s hand that turns her touch into something near scorching. The head of my shaft is swollen and reddish, the lubrication dripping uncontrollably every time her thumb plays there in the tip. My arms and shoulders are so tense it’s hard to move, and even my jaw is clenched in the attempt of remaining in control. 

“Emma,” She whispers when a tight groan escapes my throat. For some reason, it sounds like a spell, my head spins and control slips a bit more. Regina lifts her head from the bed so her mouth can reach my neck, and I feel the sting of her burning tongue against my jugular. I wait for the bite, but instead I get trail of wet kisses and muffled moans. 

My arms give in and my upper body slams into hers, pressing Regina against the mattress. Only my knees hold up, leaving enough space between our hips for her hand to maintain her work. I dive my face into the curve of her neck, my hands grabbing her hips, her tights, my breath heaving into her ear. Regina tangles her free hand in my hair, her tongue caressing the little waves and twists of my ear in such a sexy way I start to shiver. Then she’s pumping me for real, her hand motioning up and down my shaft, harder, faster. 

I clasp my fingers into the soft skin of her waist, close my mouth into the curve of her shoulder, trying not to scream as the pressure overwhelms everything else. The pleasure is like a drum, resonating, again and again, building up to a climax I’m not sure I’ll survive. I never felt anything like this before, and I want to bury myself into her so completely I can forget we’re different people. I don’t know where this comes from, but the wanting is so intense I cry out. I can’t do it, but I have her touch and her body and her skin and her smell. Then I cover it all with my come. 

For a second, it’s so fucking intense it feels like the end of the world.

But it’s just the first from many more times that night.  
  


_ Regina _

 

I wake up to find Emma whirring lightly by my side on the bed, face down, her hair a tangled golden mess over the pillow and the sheets entwined around her legs. I am not surprised to see she is still here. If by the time we stopped she still had any energy to go back to her room, she would have used it to make me come again, I am sure.

God, I came so many times I do not know how am I not dehydrated. Although I  _ am  _ thirsty. 

I get up stepping lightly, recover my robe from the floor and tie it around my waist, before crossing the room to the sideboard. I pour myself a glass of water and drink it slowly as I watch the sleeping beauty a few steps away. She is beautiful, indeed. Emma’s lean, muscular body is as pleasant to see as it is to touch. And does she smell good, my Lord. This whole room is impregnated with our mixed scents, and all I have to do is take a deep breath to find myself pulsating again. 

This morning I feel better than I have in days. Weeks. Maybe months. The wanting is far from gone, and I can feel in my guts the yearning for something she will not give me - but it is smothered by all the reminiscent pleasure of last night. And by the promise of more. The painful longing is over, and now the desire I feel is again rich, vibrating and full of life. It does not cloud my head, only fills it with delight. It is a moment of pure wonder, until Emma blinks and opens her eyes. 

“Were you watching me sleep?” She asks, rolling to her back and sitting up. Her voice is hoarse with sleep. “That’s creepy, you know.”

“I was distracted, and you just happened to be on the way,” I reply calmly, sipping my water.  

“What were you thinking about?”

“The meeting we have in an hour.” The lie comes easy, and Emma automatically checks her watch, then snorts. “What is it?”

“This shit doesn’t work in this land,” She says, running her hands through her tangled hair. “Too much magic, is my guess.”

“Have you tried spelling it?”

“Ahm… Actually, no.” She scratches behind her ear, looks at her watch again. “Wouldn’t know how to do it, anyway.”

I sigh, leaving my glass by the sideboard, and approach the bed. Emma arches an eyebrow when I extend a hand, but finally shrugs and lands her wrist on my palm. I tap at the watch’s screen three times; it clicks and tinkles, the pointers moving around for a few seconds, before they settle at 7:13.  

“There you go. No more excuses for being late.”

“Thank you,” She says, and the hand that was resting on my palm closes around my wrist. “What were you really thinking about?”

“I already told you.” My voice does not falter, but it sounds slightly puffy. And all she did was hold my arm. 

“Did you regret it?” 

“I did not,” The answer comes so easily I do not have the time to measure it. I feel utterly exposed for a moment, but then Emma grins. She grins, and I know she does not regret it either. 

“Ok, then,” She says, her thumb caressing my wrist in small, sexy circles I am not even sure she is aware of. “The meeting in is an hour, you said?”

“Yes, in the diner saloon.” 

“So I guess I should go, right? Gotta take a shower and change into my medieval-fantasy clothes.”

“I suppose so,” I nod, but none of us break the stare. The tension feeling the air is as tempting as a caress. I feel a thrill spreading through my body and my nipples tingle against the robe’s fabric. 

I was not exactly expecting this ensuing morning to be especially embarrassing. Any adult omega is more than used to this kind of situation; and the same goes for alphas. During the heats, modesty is a very rare commodity, and I would not be baffled at this point of my life with sharing a bed with a virtually stranger or seeing naked someone I would not normally direct a glance at.

Nevertheless, the tranquility of it takes me by surprise. I thought that of all my mates, Emma Swan would be the hardest to manage. I was prepared to deal with idiotic remarks, crude observations or even long silences. But the familiarity of her eyes and the fondness of her touch… this is new. 

“I’m going, then,” She says again, but her hands are untying my robe.  

“I will see you in an hour,” I play along, my heart skipping a beat when she stands up and the sheets slide from her lap to the floor. Emma’s dick is stiff, wonderfully hard against her belly. 

“I’ll get dressed and be out of your way,” Emma whispers into my lips.

“I wonder how will you fit  _ this _ ,” I palm her erection and her lips part in a silent moan, “in  _ that _ .” I point my head to the jeans on the floor. 

“Guess I’m not ready to go just yet…”

I grin. And although I said she would not have more excuses for it, we are both late for the meeting.

 

_ Emma _

 

I can’t stay even twenty feet away from her; it’s like I have this leash around my neck, and that’s all the length it goes. So I ride close, following behind her and pretending to listen to what David and Reynolds keep talking around me. It’s not that I’m not paying attention, or that I can’t understand… it’s just that I can’t find it in me to be interested. I have so much more to think about than defense lines, archery or battlefield geography… For example, I can think about Regina’s lips, about how she moves her hips or how she yelps when she comes. I can think about her hands, and the way she held my cock and…

Shit, I’m horny. 

I’m so horny that every time a breeze blows and carries Regina’s scent around, my cock springs into action, throbbing under my breeches. And I can’t stop fantasizing about running deeper into the woods with her, leaving everybody behind, until where I could press our bodies together and wet my hands with her come. 

The opportunity to do it never arrives, and by noon my leash has shortened to ten feet at best, her body calling upon mine like a magnetic field. Regina’s cheeks are pinkish too as she steals glances at me time and again. Her thoughts are generally a mystery, but her body is easy to read, all tense and warm, giving away a hasty smell: the night is too far away, the road is too long, we can’t wait. 

By the time we stop to water the horses and have lunch, I’m having trouble breathing. I bump into Regina too deliberately to fool anyone paying real attention, but I don’t mind. As she stumbles, I extend a hand and grab her, pulling Regina against me to supposedly avoiding a fall. 

“What are you doing?” She hisses, her face a few inches from mine. Somehow, reaching for each other only leave us more out of balance.

“You know how to teletransport, right?” I ask in a whisper. Her eyes turn into slits of darkness, and my cock expresses my thoughts about them.

“We cannot do that.”

“Why not? Take me somewhere. Half an hour,” I suggest, pressing my hand harder on her wrist. 

“A Queen does not leave her army.”

“Fifteen minutes,” I plead, like an idiot. Regina goes silent for a second, and I can see she’s considering it, she’s tempted.

“Let go of me,” She says at last, and then, when I probably look like someone who was punched in the guts, she adds, “We will have all night.”

I do let go, but it’s hard as fuck - almost literally. I try to keep some distance, try to eat something, drink something, but the only hunger I feel I can’t seem to satiate. I’m mumbling to myself, wondering how Regina is able to resist it so regally, when I realize what she’s doing, a few feet away. She pulls a scarf from her purse, waves it in the air, chant a few words and the carriage materializes in a puff of purple glow.

I can’t help but grin. It looks like we’ll also have the whole afternoon.  
  


The coachman only nods absentmindedly at me when I approach the carriage. I don’t bother knocking, just slam the door open, startling the woman inside. Regina turns to me as I’m already climbing in and shutting the door behind me.

“Emma, what are you--” 

I kiss her as if the world is fucking going to end, grabbing her by the back of her neck and invading her mouth with my tongue unapologetically. Regina gasps against my lips, barely breaking apart to whisper, “We cannot do this here.”

“Well, you didn’t want to go away, so…” I bite at her earlobe, listen to her breath quickening, and feel her hands grabbing my shirt.

“This is a very public pl--  _ ah! _ ” She pants as I climb her lap, shut her up with a famished kiss and dive my hands into her updo, unraveling it. 

“Can’t you do some spell to soundproof it?” I ask, my fingers hooking up into the laces of her corset. 

“If I did, we would not be able to hear it… if someone called,” It sounds like an argumentation, but her hands are in my waist, pulling the shirt from inside my breeches, looking for skin. 

“Then I guess we’ll have to be real quiet,” I whisper in her ear, and she shudders in such a sexy way I find myself shivering too.  

“That was not why I conjured the carriage,” She scolds, and I close my eyes as her lips find a trail on my throat. 

“Liar,” I mock, and all of a sudden her hands push me away with a burst of power, sending me to slam my back against the opposite wall. 

I lay at the seat in front of her, breathless with surprise for a moment, and Regina stands up, towering over me. She’s a vision, this woman. Her messed up hair, smudged lipstick and loose corset are enough to have my heart racing and my cock begging. 

“Don’t be insolent,” She tells me, like it’s a warning. I don’t mind it. My eyes are still roaming her with such a hunger that what comes next isn’t premeditated at all. 

I wave my hand in a dismissive, hasty way, wanting her, just wanting her desperately. A flash of white energy brights the carriage, and then Regina’s dress is ripped open, falling to her feet in a soft woosh. 

I’m left staring at her - still towering over me - in only her stockings, boots and jewelry. She’s not even wearing an underwear. My jaw drops and I look up to find her flushed, shocked face. Then, before she can recover and threaten me some more, I pull her down to me.

Regina strads my lap, our mouths finding each other again, and this time I feel any resistance slip away as my hands follow her bare curves, tread shaggy skin. 

“So what was the reason to  _ disconjure _ your panties?” I grin against her lips, and she grabs me by the jaw, forcing my head against the wall.

“Be quiet,” Regina hisses, the intoxicating heat of her sex trespassing my breeches and making my erection throb.

“I’m honestly curious, though.”

“Shut  _ up _ .” Her hand descends to my throat and I decide not to test my luck any further. 

Regina looks into my eyes, her hand in my throat, her naked skin brushing my body, and it feels more intimate and dangerous than it was having her hand in my chest, trying to grab my heart. It feels more effective, too. Like this time maybe she will get out of it with a piece of me. 

She licks my lips like a serpent spreading poison, still watching me, her nails deeping into my neck. I gasp, open my mouth to her, grab her waist possessively. Regina snaps the fingers on her free hand and I can suddenly feel the rough material of the seat under me and the cool air bristling my legs. My breeches are gone.

Unlucky me, I  _ am _ wearing my underwear; a pair of black boxers inflated by my hard-on and now mercifully pressed against Regina’s heated outer lips. She moans in silence when I arch my hips against her, the grasp loosening in my throat. 

I lock my fingers into her hair, enlace her waist with my other arm and pull her tighter against me. Regina rides my dick rhythmically, moaning into my mouth, sucking every trace of breath I might have had in my lungs. I can feel she’s making my boxers wet, turning the silky fabric even thinner and warmer. It’s heaven, but it’s not quite enough. 

I dive my face into her neck, trying to muffle the plead building up in my guts. I wanna take her, be inside of her, make sure there’s nothing between our bodies, not an inch. I can’t, though. That’s not our agreement. I have her nails clawing at my shoulders, and her hoarse whimpers, and fuck if it’s not more pleasure than I’ve ever felt - but it makes me so greedy. Makes me want so much more.

I take her mouth instead, biting on her lips, sucking on her tongue. I pull her head back, nibble at her jawline and shush her with a harsh whisper when she groans. I’m mad at Regina, somehow, but I’m also so into her she could have my life at this point. The way she scratches my back and glares at me tells me there’s something uneasy in her, too. 

Regina moves her hips harder, making it impossible for me to breathe. The head of my cock pulses feverishly, and I have to bite on her shoulder to contain a moan. I rock myself against her, getting soaked by her warm, maddening-scented lubrication. She holds my shoulders and nape with iron fingers as I grasp her ass with both hands. We sway with the carriage, but we have our own pace. We’re so huddled it’s hard to say where I end and she begins. It’s not enough, but it’s what we’ve got.  

Her lips hover over mine and we try to taste each other while our bodies move hurriedly towards the climax. When Regina starts to shiver, I press my mouth onto hers and swallow her yelp. We barely make any other sound as we come together.  

 

_ Regina _

 

Emma looks like she is about to drop dead when the column of smoke drifts away and I materialize completely in the middle of her tent. All of the blood rushed out of her face, and she seems so startled I immediately look around, trying to spot which wrong-doing I just caught in the act.

I do not spot anything suspicious, though, and Emma seems to be alone in here. Except for myself now, of course. Well, that is for the best. And she is still pale when my stare lands on her face again.

“What the fuck,” She gasps at last, bringing a hand to her chest. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“I have not done that in a while,” I reply calmly, but Emma does not look amused. “What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you that! This is  _ my _ tent.”

“Exactly. I thought we had a da… a meeting.” I do not like the way she arches an eyebrow, as if  _ now _ she is amused. “You never showed up.”

“I don’t remember us setting any meeting.” 

Technically, she is right; we did not schedule any appointment, per se. Nevertheless, I believed she would show up. It never occurred me that she would not. What else would Emma have to do in this forsaken nowhere? And we  _ do _ have an agreement. While I am on heat, she is supposed to… what? We were never specific about anything, and now I am empty-handed.

“Do not play dumb,” I snap, glaring at her at-ease expression. “Why did you not go meet me? Is our agreement over?” I try to keep the anxiety out of my voice and it is replaced by bitterness. “Are you already tired?” The sentence escapes me, the idea making my heart skip a beat. Maybe she already had enough of this. Of me. Maybe I am the only one still in need of more.

For some reason,  _ this _ question brings a crease to Emma’s brow, and she snorts. “I’m not  _ tired _ ,” She scoffs, sounding as if the idea is offensive. The reason eludes me for a moment, then I understand. She took it as a challenge to her mating abilities. I grin.

“Well, we did have a long afternoon in the carriage,” I try not to let show the chills the memory brings, and keep my tone teasing. “I should have imagined I would not see you tonight.” 

“I was just waiting for people to go to sleep!” Emma hisses, stepping closer. “Thought it wasn’t very nice to let the whole camp see me sneaking into your tent.” 

“Why?” I ask, and the teasing is gone. “Are you embarrassed?”

“Me? You were the one refusing to slip away with me for half an hour today. It was you complaining the carriage was a ‘very public place’,” She mimics my voice and I roll my eyes.

“And it was, but it did not seem to be a problem for you then. Of course, your inability to ride a horse probably made for a reasonable excuse…”

“I’m riding just fine,” She cuts me, then shakes her head. “That’s ridiculous. I was just being sensible.”

“You  _ are _ embarrassed. You are embarrassed of… our agreement.”

“I’m not, actually,” She refutes, eyeing me carefully for a moment. “I mean, you’re the Queen, right? I guess could have done much worse.” A smirk quirks the corner of her mouth, but I am not sure of what to make of this. 

“Then why didn’t you come to me?” 

I would never tell her I sent someone to get the sweet wine that she likes. Never tell her I changed clothes three times. Never tell her I waited three hours with my heart throbbing as painfully as my sex. 

“I thought  _ you _ were embarrassed,” Emma sighs. “I’ve been waiting here like a moron, thinking you’d kill me if I just paraded my way to your tent.”

“You left me waiting.”

“Well, it wasn’t like  _ you  _ showed up before!”

“I am the Queen, I do not have to come to you.”

“You did, though,” Emma narrows her eyes at me. “And by teleporting. So I guess nobody saw you.”

I am surprised by the sudden bitterness in her tone. 

“This is foolish,” I whisper, and she approaches me in two big steps.

“Yes, it is, and due tomorrow, I won’t give a fuck about who sees us. And if you do, then I don’t know if I want this to go on,” She declares, grabbing me by the hips. 

“Are you threatening me, Ms. Swan?”

“No, I’m just being very clear about what I want,” She replies, and my breathing is immediately labored as I inhale the sweetness of her smell. “Brutal honesty usually works best with you, so…”

Emma is so unlike anyone I have ever met that most of the time I cannot read even the basics out of her. But now I see this: an alpha writhing to let everyone to know she has claimed an omega. This is what her hands burning my hips tell me, what the strength of her smell tells me, what the steel in her eyes wants me to know. And I cannot help but feel the same way. I want to shout into the four winds, I have her and she has me. There is not an inch within me that wants to hide this.

“Alright,” I make it sound like a concession, my lips almost brushing hers. “I suppose we can be discreet, albeit not secretive.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

She takes my mouth then; that is what she does. I cannot call it a kiss, it is hardly that simple. Emma always seems to be looking for something to snatch, and I suppose most of the times I give it to her. I could not resist if I tried. Her mouth is juicy and demanding, her teeth and tongue punishing mine when I do not surrender fast enough. I feel her hands in my hair, guiding me through the kiss. She pulls my head back, deepens her tongue through my lips, sucks on mine until a moist whimper fills the room. 

This is all it takes to leave me soaked. 

Emma is somewhat peeved; her magic simmering my skin through the fabric as she unties my robe. But when the piece slides down my arms and falls to the floor, her anger disappears. I have been waiting for so long, I almost forgot this.  _ Almost _ . But part of me still wanted just this reaction, and the glow in her eyes light a fire in my venter.

She takes a step back, taking me in with a lingering stare. I am wearing long stockings, a garter belt and a laced black soutien. It is not the most alluring outfit I could come up with - I did not want to look as if I was trying too hard -, but the response I get is flattering enough to make all worthwhile. 

Emma’s scent shifts in a hurry, becoming poignant and so enticing it is my time to jump her. I cannot avoid it. My body bolts with a desperate wanting, and I sink my nails into her scalp as she enlaces me by the waist. Her mouth is seething against my neck, and I am gasping for air and drowning in her powerful smell. 

I did not think her this strong, but Emma holds me in her arms and carries me to her cot when my knees weaken. I rip her shirt open, gasp at the sight of her hard, reddened nipples, and my hands claim her skin as explorers on new land. Her mouth on my neck is pure torture, the scent of her hair intoxicating me until oblivion. I run my fingers through her back, arching my hips trying to meet hers, and the need that strikes my guts is enough to make me cry. 

I grope her breeches, pulling the cords, making the knots disappear with magic and despair, until I have her in my hands - the hard, throbbing proof of her desire. Emma moans in my ear, bites my earlobe as I pump her erection with almost none delicacy. The yearning is so strong we are both entranced, and for a moment I cannot remember why I ever thought I could avoid mating her. 

I want Emma to make me belong to her. I want Emma so deep inside me, I will never be able to receive anyone else. I want Emma to mark me, to take me, to make me someone new. The idea turns my heart into a thunderous bomb, and a barely-conscious voice inside my head whispers:  _ That is why you cannot do it.  _ I am at once scarred and tempted, and most of all, in no condition to surrender to this. Something deep inside me knows I would not survive mating Emma once and never more. 

In the meantime, I have to survive tonight, and the raging fire of her touch, of her smell and taste. I push Emma by her shoulders, trying to conjure enough strength to interrupt the trail her mouth is running down my cleavage. I take her by surprise and am able to overthrow Emma on the cot and straddle her hips. We both groan as our sexes meet, this time separated by the sheer lace of my underwear. 

Emma’s grip on my waist is deliciously possessive, and the way she swallows me with her eyes is making me so wet it is disconcerting. I adjust myself, her cock laid against her bare lower belly, and I fit it between my outer lips. I can feel the strong pump of her erection against the painful throb of my clit, two forces begging to collide. 

“Take it off,” Emma whispers, hooking her fingers onto the side of my panties. “We won’t do  _ it _ ,” She adds with a strained voice, as if I would argue. “We’ll just… just…”

“Ok, alright,” I agree in a hurry, snapping my fingers. The underwear vanishes in a soft  _ pop _ , leaving the garter belt loose on my thighs. But then, dear god, heaven and hell merge into a sensation I could not ever describe.

The feel of Emma’s cock against my bare, swollen inner lips is maddening. We are both slick with lubrication, and every detail of her is not lost on me. The heat of her blood, the ironish feel under the silly skin, and the marvelous pulse, like a countdown to an orgasm that will tear me apart. 

I roll onto it, slowly at first, letting the pressure build up my guts and explode into my chest, neck and temples almost immediately. I come with a raw yelp, feeling as Emma’s fingers mark my waist like iron claws. 

She props herself onto an elbow, lifting her upper body so her mouth can reach my breasts. Emma mouths my left nipple over the soutien, and my skin rushes to respond, pulsating and tumid against the fabric. When she nips the tip, I whimper, back from lust land, and wanting more.

I push her back down, leaning in to kiss her. Emma growls against my lips, her hands rounding my body to grab my bottom. When I move my hips, my clit presses the head of her cock, and we both howl with hoarse voices. I base my hands on the sides of her head, upholding myself in the position - and then I start riding. 

I left the whole length of her erection moist with my come, and now it feels even better as I slide back and forth. My clitoris is so tender it makes me want to cry out. I go on, massaging us both in a friction that could catch sparks. Emma lifts her head just enough to press her lips on my throat, licking the frenzy beat of blood on my jugular and the vibration of every moan escaping me.

Our breaths are so hot they condensate into the night, and any attempt of a kiss is parted by a sob or a desperate gasp for air. My pussy contracts rhythmically, as if trying to grip a fulfillment I am refusing to give it. If I had any way to feel frustrated right now, I would, but the pleasure is too overwhelming, and for once it feels like I have enough. For now, I have just enough. 

Emma spasms under me, and I spot the strained vein on her neck that tells me she is about to come. She throws her head back, tensing every muscle in an attempt to contain it. Watching her fighting her climax is so sensual it ignites my own. And I was never good at controlling it, so it washes over me like a tsunami, dragging Emma along.

We come together, convulsing against each other, filling the tent with our groans. Our magics explode into a lightning-storm that only lasts a moment and stuffs the air with the scent of electricity, sex and fire. Then I stumble down onto her chest, limp.

Emma welcomes me there, her arms enveloping me. For a whole minute, I am not aware of anything other than our hearts beating together, her chest rising and falling under me and the slick sensation of our joined hips. She is still hard against me, and I am still throbbing, but there is time - the seconds are ticking away slowly, and I cannot move yet.

Then she starts to caress my back, the laziest touch, her fingertips running around my skin in random patterns. I whimper lowly, I do not know why. This is such a different kind of sexual pleasure… I have not felt it in so long… I dive into it without realizing, burying myself into the frizzling delight of her touch. Emma does not say anything, just keeps on. 

I close my eyes, melting into her chest, feeling the soft enchantment buzzing on her fingertips. Lately, everytime we touch, the magic sings. Her heart is beating, her breath just slightly catching, our hips… moving? Or is it just me? Rocking slowly, following the compass of her touch. I moan under my breath and her nails run my back, making me shiver. My clit pulses, one, two, three times. I cannot stop... 

She is drawing nonsenses on my waist, the lines leaving behind a tingly burning. It takes me too long to realize she is writing a chain of Es - by the time the thought clears in my head, I am coming. The orgasm is almost a heartache, painfully long. Emma barely moves; she barely did anything. 

I just orgasmed to her patting my back.   

I start to blush, but then her hand brushes my hair, her fingers entwining the locks, and I relax again in spite of myself. I am not going anywhere right now, her hand on my nape tells me, and I comply.

“You’re freckled,” I murmur after a while, touching the light skin of her shoulder; it is dotted with lightly golden, pretty freckles, and for some reason it fills me with fondness. 

“Yeah…” She exhales. “Used to hate it when I was younger. But I guess that’s what you get being daughter of Snow  _ White _ .” 

I smirk, lifting my head to check the ones spread across her nose and cheeks. They are usually covered with a thick layer of foundation, but tonight they glow under the torches. “I do not know why you would hate them; I find them to be quite endearing.” 

“Endearing, you say?” Emma smiles, raising a hand to place a lock of hair behind my ear. “I thought I looked like a hick.” She shrugs, her thumb caressing my cheek softly. “I guess not everybody can have that face.”

This time I blush like a silly girl. 

“Don’t mock me,” I say, leaving her lap and laying by her side.

Emma turns to me, shaking her head. “I’m not. You know you’re beaut--”

I shush her, covering her mouth with my fingertips. I know she is attracted to me, and that is enough. I do not want to be greedy tonight, to end up wanting more than I can have. And I cannot allow Emma to give me a taste of something I will never own. 

“Just fuck me,” I tell her, and her eyes grow dark and careful. She takes a moment, as if trying to decide if she should be pleased or offended by it. I do not know if she reaches a conclusion, but she fucks me anyway.   


	4. Walls crumble down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I have a few notes before we go on with this, if you guys have a minute. :P  
> \- Next chapter will be the last one, and I promise I'll finish this, even if it takes me awhile!  
> \- I decided not to use the mating mark in this fic; I thought in OUAT we already have true love, and I guess that's enough.  
> \- Sorry I didn't lay out all of the omegaverse rules aplied in this, but I was figuring out as I wrote it, too. haha  
> \- This chapter is also very NSFW! Hope you guys enjoy it. ;)

_ Emma _

 

I wake up to my cock stark-rigid pressed against Regina’s ass, my face sunk into her nape and my arm around her waist, my hand cupping a breast loosely. I can hear the steady swish of her breath, and feel her body heat enveloping me from head to toe. I guess it’s barely dawn, and the calm surrounding this tent feels unbreakable. Silently, I prop myself up onto an elbow so I can peek at her face; her expression is so relaxed her lips are curved into the softest smile.  

God, she’s gorgeous. And she smells so good the hunger inside me awakens too, and I have to lean in to brush my nose through the slender curve of her shoulder, taking in the warm scent of her skin. Her breathing catches just slightly, and I know I’m waking her up - it’s a pity, but I can’t help myself. I kiss Regina’s earlobe, my thumb caressing the nipple of the boob still framed by my hand until it’s tumid. 

She awakes with a soft gasp, the smile growing bigger, beautiful, before she’s fully conscious and it fades away. Regina turns her head back, searching for me, and our mouths meet almost as fast as our eyes. It’s a lazy kiss, but her hips are moving, and I have to groan once my cock fits between her buttocks. 

My hand slides down to her stomach, rounding her belly button a couple of times before inching closer to her pubis. Regina opens her legs and her mouth at the same time, letting my tongue in and welcoming my touch. I run my fingers delicately through her slit, and she shivers in my arms. I’ve learned to love these moments, rare as they are. When I catch her off-guard with an unexpected gesture of kindness, her walls crumble and she melts so completely I get overwhelmed.

“Don’t tease me,” She whispers against my lips, her voice hoarse with sleep and arousal. I grin, nibbling on her lower lip.

“Just taking my time,” I reply, caressing the sensitive skin of her outer lips. I can feel her getting wet, the lubrication slowly making way through her slit and smearing my fingers as they go up and down. 

“Just touch me,” Regina presses after a minute, the tortured note in her tone making my cock throb. 

“I will.” I know she wants me to part her lips open and run my fingertips through her inner labia, slide inside of her. Not doing it is probably as painful for me as it is for her, but instead I keep caressing. 

“Emma,” She pants, but I can already feel the tip of her swollen clit trespassing her lips, and it’s too much to resist any longer.

I inch away, gasping as my cock leaves the scorching cover between her ass, and make room for Regina to lie on her back. I lean over her, and she kisses me full on the mouth, raising her arms to enlace my neck and arching her spine to press her boobs against mine. Yes, fuck, I do love these moments. 

Her hands entwine in my hair as I lick her neck, biting a trail down her throat; then she opens her legs and the heat from her sex invites me like a spell, my hard-on brushing her slippery slit in a maddening way. Regina throws her head back and moans when that reddish tip of her clit steals rubs from the head of my cock. It’s so tempting to give us both more I have to shake my head to clear it - today I have other plans. 

She squirms under me once I lower myself and capture a nipple in my mouth, getting my cock out of reach in the process. I taste the skin between her breasts with the tip of my tongue and go down from there, crossing her stomach and moistening the fair trail of hair leading to her belly button. Regina holds her breath, the muscles contracting, her thighs bristling under my fingertips. Then I resume my way. 

“Emma?” She breathes when my lips brush her pubis. “Emma, what are you-- Oh, my. Oh,  _ oh! _ ” I battle her legs for a second, trying to close in on my face as my tongue covers her clit. “What are you  _ doing _ ?” She gasps at last, her voice pitchy.

I look up at her flushed face, my lower lip still brushing the top of her slit when I say, “Going down on you?” It comes out just slightly ironic and amused, and Regina lifts herself on her elbows, staring at me with questioning, burning eyes. I grin, but she still looks cautious, intrigued and aroused, somehow, and it takes a moment for it to dawn on me. “Nobody never went down on you before?”

Her cheeks become even brighter, and her legs attempt closing again, but I’m still between them. “ _ Why  _ would anyone do that?” Her voice is almost regal enough to disguise the hesitation. 

“Because of how it feels?” I reply, and let my tongue glide over her vulva slowly. Regina makes a muffled sound, and I pretend not to see how her hands clutch the covers. 

“That is not… you do not have to… You do not have to do that…”

“Look, your clit just doubled size on my tongue,” I tease, breathing into her sex even as I look up. “So why don’t you just lay back and enjoy yourself?”

I don’t wait for an answer, just lower my head again and dive in between her legs. I can’t believe I’m the first one to do this - what the fuck everyone else had on their fucking minds? Regina tastes like goddamn heaven, and the sounds she makes when I flick her clit with my tongue is enough to set me on fire. 

She pulls on my hair, shivering so hard I have to hook my arms around her thighs to keep her in place. Her whole sex swells, the blood pumping against my mouth, her lubrication running to soak my chin. It’s the sexiest thing I have ever witnessed, and when she yelps, my own heart is racing madly. Regina comes before I can even make sense of how she likes it, her wetness becoming a flood that fills my mouth until I’m drunk. I can barely breathe when her fingers loose the grasp on my hair.

“Ok…” I pant, licking my lips. “Now try to enjoy yourself a little longer this time.”

Regina lifts her head to send me a death glare, but it doesn’t work, since her eyes roll back as soon as my tongue meets her clit again. It’s still hard, ready for me to play around it, pressing it, rolling my tongue onto it, making Regina cry out loud again. I think she likes it, I think she likes it a lot. And fuck me if I can’t do this until the world ends.

When she comes the second time, I don’t even stop to catch my breath. Her inner lips are hot, swollen, pulsating with sensibility, and I lick them wastefully, until Regina is charging her hips against my face to make sure my famished tongue gets all of it. She calls my name just as another orgasm hits, and I suddenly feel possessed. I need her, I want her - all the pleasure I could ever give, it’s hers to take. 

I suck on her clit and Regina lets out a desperate cry; I feel her come dripping down my chin, running down my throat. And I’m still thirsty as hell. My cock aches against the mattress, the pressure building every time she comes with a delicious yelp. I know I can’t hold it back much longer, but neither can I stop now. 

“Emma, my God, Emma…” She moans roughly, her nails biting into my scalp. 

I feel her back arching into a spasm when my tongue slides inside, going to the source in a ravenous attempt of absorbing more of her. I feel the powerful throb of her clit against my upper lip as I press my face harder between her legs, trying to go deeper. Regina shakes uncontrollably, orgasming as if in the hands of a hurricane. I gulp down her come greedly, my fingers gripping her thighs like claws as the scent of my own come feels the room, too. 

When my mouth fumbles back to her clit, I find it so tender Regina’s whole body trembles when my tongue taps at it just lightly. “Emma,” She groans, her hands back in my hair, this time brushing instead of pushing, as if satisfied. I’m not. I kiss her there, kiss her all over, taking her in, all I can. She shivers, once, twice, her thighs coming to squeeze my temples. 

“You can ask me to stop,” I whisper, raising my head. Her lubrication must make half of my face glow with the proof of her pleasure.

Regina doesn’t ask me to stop, so I don’t.

Instead, I slip one finger inside of her, then two. She contracts around me, the muscles on her slender legs twitching. I crook my fingers and go deeper, until I can feel that sensitive, tumescent point she likes. Regina’s hips burst into convulsions and her clitoris bulges at once, throbbing against my waiting mouth. This time, when she comes, my palm, my wrist, my neck and my collarbone get soaked as Regina squirts violently.

I orgasm again, too, as if someone is pulling my soul through my venter.  

And I don’t fucking stop.

Every time her body softens, or her labored breath calms a little, every time her clit eases against my tongue, or her grasp in my hair loosens, I find a new way. I lose track of time, or of how many orgasms I gulp down, always in search of the next, drunkenly and madly addicted. My jaw might as well come unhinged, my neck stiff as a rock, but she moans and all is worth it - God, I just want more. I want her forever.

At some point, her soft, afflicted whimpers let me know she’s sore, but she doesn’t ask me to stop even then. I lick her gingerly, from pain to orgasm, once and again. When her clit becomes overly sensitive, I use only my lips to make her come. When it gets unbearable, I tease around it until she yelps hoarsely. 

“Emma, please,” Her voice isn’t more than a tentative whisper. “Please... have mercy.”

I look up, my lips tumid and bruised. “What is it? You never told me to stop.”

“I  _ can’t _ ,” Regina retorts, and I see her body twitching, her lower lip bitten raw. She’s sweated, trembling, her stomach continually contracted, delineating her ribs. Then it hits me. No, of course she can’t tell me to stop. She’s on goddamn heat, her body is telling her all she needs is to fuck, no matter everything else.

I’m such an idiot!

I lay by her side, push the hair from her face with my fingertips. “I’m sorry,” I kiss her lips softly, the sting of guilt burning my guts. “Here, let me take care of you.” 

“You don’t hav…”

I ignore the rest of the sentence as I get out of bed and head to a small wooden table to get her a glass of water. Regina lifts herself to a sitting position when I come back, staring me in the eyes as I bring the cup to her lips. She drinks wastefully, and when the glass is empty, I run my thumb through her chapped, moist lower lip, healing it with a sparkle of magic.

“I didn’t mean to…”

“Try to kill me with oral sex?” She deadpans, and I chuckle.  

“Not the first impression I wanted you to have.”

“Liar,” Regina retorts, and I bite back another laugh. 

“I’ll prepare you a bath now, ok?”

“You don’t have to do that,” She says as I’m turning around to the wooden bathtub on the far side of the tent. “This is not…”

“I know,” I interrupt. This is not mating, I do know. It’s not my obligation to care for her, is what Regina is about to say. I don’t wanna hear this crap. “But I’m here, and we have a deal, right? It doesn’t matter how the details go, you’re on heat, and I’m your alpha.”

She opens her mouth, and I wait for a protest that never comes. Instead, I get another barely-there-and-gone smile. I turn my back again before Regina can see it on my face how I’m fucking living for those, these days.  

 

_ Regina _

 

The days are getting shorter as winter settles on the land, and we march intently from sunrise to sunset, finally getting to the outskirts of Tegan. 

Everyday a group of scouts arrive with news from the field and updates about Zelena’s forces. The War Council meets, and we lay out our plans - the conversations are long, but the disagreements all but disappeared. Emma and I are so attuned everything and everyone else just falls into place. 

We have our own strategy and a part to play; magic can be a turning point in any battle. But I do not doubt, not for a moment, that we are able to do it. Together, I feel like we can accomplish anything. I would not admit it, but every time she holds me in her arms I am more assured she will not let Zelena touch me. 

Of course, I do not need Emma to protect me. It is just a funny feeling to know she will. 

She rides by my side all day now, and we go over our ideas, or practice a few spells in partnership. Nothing big, as to not scare the horses, but we keep the road clearer and the army a little warmer, if we can. Most of the time, it is a good distraction from what her scent causes me. Other times, we just talk. I tell her about the land, the people, the laws, the forest. I talk about magic, and plantations, and fairy dust. Emma tells me about her childhood - but only the good parts, it seems, always averting her eyes and changing the subject when we approach some dark patch. She talks about her rebel years, about New York, and summers on the East Coast. Then, sometimes, she remembers her pregnancy, making anecdotes about the first time she felt Henry kick in her belly, or of when he was born. 

And when the days are over, we have the nights.

I keep feeling like I found in her a deep well of clear, fresh water. And though I have an infinite thirsty for everything that is Emma, I do not get anxious, because I know she will not dry out. She is infinite, too, and I am just having a taste.  

“Can we bring out the carriage today?” Emma asks as we approach a small village where we are set to stop for lunch. The mere idea sends a tingling rush down my venter, but I shake my head.

“The ground becomes quite tricky after Yordan Town,” I point out the scarce forest that surrounds the walls, dotted with deeply rooted oak trees. “It would be hard to move quickly.”

“Ok, but… can’t you make it fly or something?” 

“No, Emma, we cannot have a flying carriage,” I retort, adjusting myself on the saddle. “Though I appreciate the effort your mind is making.” I add in a whisper, and get a grin in return. 

“Can’t say  _ those  _ advantages didn’t cross my mind,” She says, fumbling with her horse. “But honestly, today I’d appreciate a rest from Thunder.”

“Your legs again?” I ask, though last night her thighs were fine, if a little sore.

“My whole fucking body.” Emma puts a hand on her lower back and cracks her neck as if in demonstration. “Even my wrists are sore from pulling the reins. Honestly, riding sucks.”

“It does not,” I roll my eyes, giving her a side glance and sighing. “You do it wrong, I have told you.”

“I do it just like you do it!”

“You have to keep yourself straight.”

“Well,  _ that  _ was always a challenge for me.”

“Do not be silly, I am trying to teach you.”

“I ride just fine! That’s not the…” She trails off when I throw a leg over my saddle, turning to hers. “What are you doing? Don’t--”

With one swift move, I transfer from my saddle to the back of hers, even as our horses march forward. Emma gasps, whipping her head back to stare at me. “Are you crazy, woman?”

“Oh, please,” I make a dismissive gesture, passing my arms around her to grab the reins.

“What are you doing?”

“Showing you how to ride properly.” I keep one hand on the reins, the other pushes Emma’s shoulder back, making her stretch her spine. 

“Ok, that’s ridiculous,” She grumbles. “Go back to your horse, please. And the normal way, this time.”

I ignore her. “Listen to me. You have to follow the motion, or you will be swinging all the time. Steel your posture, now.”

“Regina,” She turns her head again to look me in the eye. “I’m serious, I don’t need a lesson.” Her voice is barely over a hiss, and I notice we are the focus of some attention. My guard, for once, seems quite amused by the situation.

I cannot help but get a little amused too.

“You do, actually. Stop being so proud and follow my lead.”

_ “I’m a fucking Captain!”  _

“All the more reason for you to learn how to ride properly.”

Emma glares at me, but I press my thighs tighter against her hips and her breath suddenly catches, her cheeks gaining spots of color. Then she turns to the front again and I am left staring at her nape.

“Follow my movements,” I whisper in her ear, unable to ignore how she fits between my arms, or how my cleavage is pressed against her shoulder blades. I do not think Emma can ignore it either. 

“That’s humiliating,” She growls under her breath. “Is it on purpose?” 

“You are being dramatic, dear.” I set Thunder on a light trot. “One would think you would like the opportunity to get between my legs.”

“Usually it doesn’t make me look like a moron in front of an entire army.”

“Oh, I bet you are not so distressed that I did not just get you hard,” I tease by her ear, and Emma bites back a retort. She  _ is  _ hard, then. My own sex starts pulsating in return. 

“Let’s just get it over with,” She mumbles, then spurs Thunder forward. The horse springs suddenly, and Emma sways against me, though I was the one caught by surprise. Dear God, she is a terrible rider - but she is also painstakingly hot. I guess nobody is perfect.

I thrust the reins in her both hands, showing her how to hold them firmly, though not forcefully, and my left arm goes around her midriff, pressing her against me tighter. That is all it takes; by now getting into each other rhythm is almost a second nature. Emma moves with me, and I follow the trot. The wind whips our hairs around, envelops me in her scent. In a minute, we have left almost everyone behind, and I feel like we are running away to our own world. The feeling in my guts is so close from happiness, I could not point out the difference if I tried.   
  


We have lunch in the largest diner on the village, and it is still barely big enough to fit all of the high-ranked officials. Once David and his lieutenant Reynolds make smart remarks about the riding lesson, Emma turns moody and does so much as glance in my direction throughout the course of the meal. 

Every time I mean to approach her, I get caught up in yet another conversation or planning, and desert is already being served when I catch her leaving the room with the corner of my eye. I excuse myself quite curtly so I can get General Atticus to shut his face. Emma’s distance is already taking a toll on me, my body urging me to go after her, her lingering scent like a shimmering trail attracting me.

I follow behind her through a small corridor, passing by the kitchen door, from where I can smell pork in the grill and hear people talking aloud. But I do not smell Emma, so I move on. Her scent calls me from the end of the hallway, through a closed door. I am ready to knock when she slams it open, almost running me over on her way out. Our bodies collide, and even this abrupt shock wakes my every nerve ending. My hands grab her shirt instinctively and I push her in again, knocking the door behind us.

“What are you doing?” Emma steps back, and I find myself holding on to her at arm’s length. 

“Are you truly mad?”

“People are making fun of me because of you.”

“That was never my intention, dear,” I step closer again. Emma tries to retreat, but corners herself against a stone sink. The washroom is small, but clean and warm. Right now, it is filled with Emma’s alluring scent.

“Yeah, I don’t know if I believe you,” She grumbles. My fingers start working on her shirt. “Regina.”

“Emma?” I brush my lips against hers, trying to inhale her breath. 

“I don’t think I’m in the mood right now.” I know it is a lie when her voice cracks in the end, my hands finding the soft skin on her waist. 

“But I want you,” I whisper back, exploring the long curve of her throat with my avid mouth. “I want you right now.”

“People are waiting for us,” Emma gulps, the movement vibrating on my tongue. I press my body into hers, feel the familiar shape of her erection.

“You said you are my alpha,” I say, looking up into her eyes. Part of me knows it is all silly, that I have not offended her in any profound way, but even this sheer curtain of indifference makes me needy, and my body follows suit. “I want you.”

“Should’ve thought of that before mocking me out there, shouldn’t you?” Emma responds, and I press my fingers into her nape. 

“Emma.” My nose brushes hers, our breaths mixing. “I want you.” The idea that she might deny me becomes slowly unbearable, and I press my body harder against hers, covering her torso with the heat of my hammering heart.

“Look, maybe tonight…” I kiss her, silencing any complaint. Emma resists for a moment, her mouth tight against mine. I nibble her lower lip, holding it out between my teeth until it escapes with a soft  _ pop _ . She makes the mutest sound, and my whole body shivers with pure magic and heat, demanding a reaction. “Ok, God, alright. I want you too.” She concedes, passing her arms around me.

At this point, I want her so bad I could liquefy - I  _ am  _ liquefying. My hands run to her hair, fingers tangling into her locks, pulling her close. I moan her name with a strained voice, and Emma parts her lips to let me in. My tongue slides gladly through hers, sucking her taste.

“You know, this is unfair,” She gasps once my mouth abandons hers to find way down her neck again. I count her heartbeats in the tip of my tongue, speeding up as my hands find the strings on her breeches. I pull them down without thinking twice, freeing her delicious cock. 

“Sit down,” I tell her, with the slightest push on her shoulders. Emma stumbles back to sit on the toilet lid. “Your lesson is not over.”

Emma glares at me, tilting her chin, but she does not move as I remove my underwear underneath my dress. I straddle her lap with no embarrassment, watching as she tries not to moan when her hard-on meets my lubricated vagina.  _ I  _ do moan, because this is without a doubt my favorite feeling in this whole world.

“Remember what I told you about following the motion?” I whisper, holding onto her shoulders. 

“Something about not swinging,” Emma retorts, but her hands are grabbing my waist firmly. 

I grin. “Oh, I think we will swing.” 

I kiss her again, and this time it does not take long before her hunger meets mine. My body feels nuclear, the energy building until I could turn a whole country into ashes. I am filled by the sensation of riding with her, the pure freedom of it; and then the enduring peace of waking up in her arms every morning, how it accompanies me for the rest of the days. I am caught by the memories of her mouth on my sex, of endless pleasure. All of it mounts inside of me, piling up on my venter as a ball of flames.

I ride her cock with all my might, groaning as Emma’s stiffness rubs my inner lips almost painfully. I am so wet I could slip her in in one swoop, if I moved the right way, and the temptation throbs just barely under control. 

Emma holds me closer, panting while my mouth hovers over her face, her neck, her shoulders, licking and biting in equal parts. She shivers against me, parts her lips when I look for them again, and I feel it - I feel this time she is mine for the take. And I take her, I take all that I can, going for more. It is not even a choice; I am possessed by my own desperate neediness, the longing I have for her body, her attention, her care. And the more I want her, the more I demand. 

Every time before, Emma had me, and I gladly gave myself in, drowning on her until I could not breathe. This time, I can feel the way her fingers clamp my waist, see the strained veins popping on her forehead, and notice how her breathing is hard and ragged. My own scent turns this little room into an erotic steam room, just before I orgasm with a new burst of power and desire. Emma lets out a tortured groan, throwing her head back. 

“Don’t stop,” I command, my hips thrusting forward, racing the next orgasm. 

“Oh, fuck,  _ shit _ ,” Emma’s eyes get wide and darker than I have ever seen, and I suddenly feel… I feel… “Fuck, this kind of  _ hurts _ .” 

I stop dead on my tracks, frozen in place, just  _ feeling  _ it. It takes all my willpower to stand up, and my heart tumbles in my chest, my mouth running dry. Emma is swelling, her cock growing bigger and harder, and ungodly marvelous before my eyes. 

“What the  _ fuck _ ,” She groans again, more than half pain this time. “It never did  _ that  _ before.”

“You are knotting,” I let out in a whisper. 

I feel myself dripping down my thighs, my heart thundering madly, my skin bristling with sensibility. She is knotting. I cannot believe she is knotting. The pulse in my temples is enough to leave me light headed. I have had my fair share of mates throughout life, but since Daniel, not one of them has knotted me. I do not think I would want them to, but the thought never even crossed my mind - it is so rare, it requires so much from both of the people involved, it essentially never happens. 

But it is happening. And she is not even mating me. No, we did not even mate. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ , goddammit, how do I make it stop?” Emma gasps in a pitchy voice. She is hurting, I can feel she is hurting, and in some way, I am, too. Because she was supposed to me inside of me, we were supposed to be tied together now. Inseparable. 

I look at her through a sexual haze. Emma’s erection would probably not even fit right now, but Lord knows I am willing to try. The despair is pumping through my veins like fire, and the single, frail sting still holding me back is the fact I know… I know, in this state, Emma would say yes for all the wrong reasons. I know this as I know I provoked the knotting, I know I brought it out of her today, calling upon her, demanding her to fulfill me as I have not done before. I did this, but I cannot do more than this. And it is torture. For the both of us. 

“I will take care of you,” I tell her in a hoarse tone, dropping on my knees. Emma stares at me, her eyes clouded with need and awe. Yes, she has the Queen on her knees, and I do not mind. No, right now I do not mind, because she  _ is  _ mine. 

I have to use both hands to hold the base of her cock, and Emma breaks the stare to throw her head back. I make a tight ring with my thumbs and forefingers, pressing there and sliding up. She makes a painful, gasping sound, and I enclose as much as I can of her erection in my hands. I do not have big hands, and right now they seem ridiculously small trying to contain her wanting.

“ _ Please _ ,” Emma cries, making my clit spasm in response. 

I tighten my grasp and lean in, moving by pure instinct, trying and failing to fit the head of her cock in my famished mouth. Emma curses when it catches on my teeth, but it is not pain this time - well, not only pain, anyway. How did I never do this before? She tastes so good I feel myself contract. I lick her in a voracious hurry, gulping down the drops of come escaping her slit. Soon enough, her lubrication and my saliva leave her erection so slick my hands run up and down much more easily. 

“You’re gonna fucking  _ kill me _ ,” Emma says under her breath. I would grin, if I had the time. I do not. She gets even harder on my hands, the blood pumping underneath with the power of a storm. I feel like I am myself about to explode, but I do not stop. 

I suck the tip of her cock, my tongue running the slit in wet, hungry rubs. Emma is moaning so loud I can hear it over my own heart thumping on my head. I wring my hands around her shaft and Emma’s hips charge forward. I can see it coming, I can scent it, I can  _ feel  _ it. One more thrust, one more suck, and she is yelling at the stone walls, shaking so hard I almost lose my grip - almost. 

I drink as much as I can of her, Emma’s come gushing out, warm, tasteful and all mine. My hands get soaked, my mouth full, and I feel it dripping down my chin, more and more, as if all of our lust combined could explode from her to greet me. I could do this forever, taking in anything she has to offer me, and never getting satisfied.

But then her knott eases away slowly, until I am left with a sexy, stark-hard - if regular - erection on my hands. Emma lets out an exhausted, subdued moan, and I lift myself to face her. Dark green eyes meet mine, and she stands up to pull me into her chest. I am the one shivering now, and she holds me tight, kissing me, touching me. I yelp in surprise when she lifts me over the sink, but have no time to say a word as her head disappears under my skirt. 

I do not last ten seconds. Not the first, not the second time. I do not last thirty seconds the third time. I lose count soon enough, but by the time Emma straightens herself again, I could swear I came over ten times in less than five minutes. 

When she encloses me in her arms, diving her face into my shoulder, we are both breathless, too stunned to think. Then I hear her whispering, stammering, and my heart misses a beat when the words sink in, as if my skin itself is absorbing them.

“You’re everything. Everything. God, Regina, I think you’re  _ everything _ .” 

_ Emma _

 

We lay in bed late at night, so close I can feel the warmth of her breathing touch my lips. The smell of our combined sweat and come fills the room, but we both know we are far from satisfied. There is just this hiatus, this momentaneous peace that leaves us staring at each other, with nothing and the whole universe between us at once.

“Are you worried?” I ask in a whisper. There is no need for more than that. 

“Worried?” 

“About taking Tegan Fort?” I clarify, and Regina’s eyes sober up. “David said we fight tomorrow, more than likely.”

“Yes,” She drums her fingers through my shoulder. “There is no point in taking any longer. Zelena knows we are coming, we should approach her with full force.”

I nod, studying her face, “So, are you worried?” 

Regina takes a moment before saying, “No, I am not. The people of Oz are not warriors, they are not conquerors. David will take no time to dismount their formations, and free the way to the gates. And Zelena might be powerful, but she is no match for the both of us.”

“I just can’t shake the feeling this is all just a decoy, you know? She takes your biggest mine, flaunts it in your face - she knew you’d come. I don’t even think it’s fairy dust what she’s after--”

“We have talked about this, Emma. The things she could do with fairy dust…” Regina starts.

“I know, I’m just saying…” I sigh, and my hand clutches her closer by instintic. “The things she could do with  _ you… _ ”  

“Are  _ you  _ worried?” Regina retorts, raising a regal eyebrow.

“You know I’m no warrior either.” 

“I absolutely do not know that,” She touches my face with an unexpected kindness, her eyes boring into mine. “You are a warrior, one of the fiercest I have ever seen.” 

“I just don’t want anything to happen to you,” I whisper back, holding her wrist. “I won’t let it.” 

Regina smirks then, surprising me again, “I know.”

“You know?”

“You are the Savior, dear,” She mocks me in a light tone. “And your parents’ daughter. I am sure it will come in handy having you by my side tomorrow.”

“Oh, so was this all just a ploy?” I make an offended face. “You seduce me so you can have a magical body guard?” 

“I  _ seduce  _ you?” 

“You know what you did, woman,” I accuse, and Regina’s eyes shine with glee. 

“Well, no, dear. This is just an unexpected vantage that has never crossed my mind as I  _ seduced  _ you… Ah!” She gasps when poke her in the ribs, and tries to deviate from my hand.

“You should have learned not to mess with the Savior, at this point,” I tell her, poking her again, watching as an unwilling smile tugs her lips. “There are always consequences.”

“And you should have learned not to threaten the Queen,” Regina retorts, pushing my hands away with an electrical buzz of magic. 

“Oh, this is how it’s gonna be?” I rub my hands together to get rid of her magic, then hop forward without a warning, slamming Regina onto her back and getting on top. Before she’s done gasping, I attack, tickling her waist and belly with both hands. 

She lets out a yelp and starts squirming immediately, trying to contain my hands as bursts of laughter echo through the tent. The sound is so clear, so defenceless, my heart jumps to my throat, and my fingers just stop. The realization hits me like a train - this is the first time I have ever heard Regina laughing. I think some of it hits her too, because she doesn’t try to kill me instantly. We just stare at each other, her chest rising and falling, and I feel completely stunned. 

“You have such a great laugh,” I say after a moment.

“Stop it,” She growls back, averting her eyes. Instead, a tickle her a little more. “Emma! Stahp…” 

I giggle too, grabbing her hands that are trying to grab mine. “I mean it. It’s beautiful. I wish I had heard it before.”

“You are being silly.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Well, I suppose if you minded being silly, that would be all you would ever have time to do.”

I tickle her again, and she laughs unwillingly, beautifully. “Don’t be mean,” I say, leaning in. “Think of all you could do with the free time.”

Regina smiles at me, an unguarded smile that lasts more than a second, more than all the others combined, and when it fades it’s because she kisses me. She kisses me slow and tenderly, her hands running through my hair, my nape and my back, raising chills I can barely stand. My mouth leaves hers to nibble at her chin, following the line of her jaw until I’m left at her earlobe. I flick it with the tip of my tongue, and am rewarded by a puffy moan. Regina’s body is a treasure hunt, and I just have to know where to dig up. 

I spread moist kisses through her neck, and she throws her head back, giving me more room. I take my time there, licking the vibrating curve of her throat until she’s panting. That’s when I know her breasts are ready for me, tumid and tender, the nipples so rigid I can taste in them the same lush flavor of her sex. Regina arches her back, entwining her fingers on my hair as she moans. 

I go up to kiss her again, my hard-on pressed against her smothering thighs, and she greets me with lips parted and ragged breath. Regina enlaces my neck with both hands, presses our bodies together, and I feel our thundering hearts align. I prop myself in one elbow, the other arm going around her waist, making sure there’s not an inch to keep us apart. When Regina dives her face into my neck, I am so wrapped up in her scent, her heat, her existence, I could not differentiate us if I tried. 

My hand in her waist slides down her hip, trails through her shivery thigh to the back of her knee, pulling on it with a familiar lust. Regina bends her knee, parts her legs, making room for my hips, and we both sob when my shaft meets her pussy. I groan from the back of my throat when her legs enfold my hips, feeling like a prey deadly enclosed by a serpent. Regina could devour me now, and I wouldn’t make a sound of protest. 

Instead, she shivers against me, whispering my name in a tentative voice. I stare into her eyes and see there the same resolute need I feel throbbing through my body. To fight this would be like fighting life itself. And we are both too alive now, in the arms of each other, to let it slip. Just now there’s no doubt left, not a question to be made or any fear to be solved. At last, we meet halfway, and it’s time, fuck, it’s more than time we come together.

I gasp when Regina’s hand slip between our bodies and holds my cock. I am shaking so hard I can barely keep myself in position as she leads me inside. I wish I wasn’t so painfully aware of never having done it before. When the head of my cock meets her entrance, my eyes roll to the back of my head and I kiss sanity goodbye. 

“You ok?” She murmurs against my lips, her voice barely there, her free hand caressing my nape. I feel like an idiotic novice, but can only nod and moan in response. This seems to be enough, since her grasp in my shaft tightens and she pulls me deeper.

The head goes in with the mutest wet noise, and I meet heaven in a series of spasms. I pray to anything and anyone not to come now, to please, please, not let me ruin this by coming now. I think I might literally die when Regina contracts around me, so tight I can’t even go in further. 

“Regina,” I plead in a strained voice, and her both hands grasp my shoulders, the nails burying into my scapulas.

“I know,” She whispers. “Wait a second, I am trying not to come.”

“Oh, shit, don’t come or I’m coming to.”

“ _ I know _ .”  

I look at her flushed, gorgeous face, and touch her cheek with my knuckles before kissing her slowly. I bite at her lower lip, run my tongue onto it, and wait for both her mouth and her sex to let me in. Her mouth give way first, but her vagina follows right after, and Regina moves her hips to allow me in. 

I groan as my shaft slides inside of her, bewildered by how it feels. The shocks running through my spine and down my legs are pure heat, lust and wonder. My whole skin feels a thousand times more responsive, my heart is racing - and in two places at once. My cock throbs so hard I can barely think, the rigidity of it in the neighborhood of painful. 

And then the world just… It’s like it turns a million times bigger, then narrows down until it’s filled by one thing only. Regina. I am so aware of her the existence that anything else is unnoticeable. So  _ this  _ is mating. Her smell is the most powerful force in the universe, grabbing me by the hips, by the wrists, by the ankles, like a slaving chain, binding me to her in levels I never dreamed of. 

On the other hand, I can feel every bit of her: her thundering heart; the wetness welcoming me in, so profound it dampens us both to the thighs; her hands clutching me like the world will end if she lets me go; her ragged breath; her hoarse voice, calling my name. Regina is not chaining me; we are chained to each other. This is the true meaning of being together, and being apart is a distant, painful idea. 

The enormity of it strikes me like a lightening, but I can’t wrap my mind around it much longer - it would be like trying to understand the universe in one moment. I can’t. I can only exist in its overwhelming complexity. And just after the lightening, it comes the thunder - the pleasure that reverberates through my cells, until I am molecularly taken.

“Follow the motion,” Regina whispers in my ear, and I don’t know if she’s provoking me on purpose, and I don’t mind. She has the reins, I’m not about to deny it.

And when she moves, I move. It’s so easy to find our pace, it feels choreographed. I kiss her, tasting her plump mouth like it’s the first time, finding more flavors in it than should be possible. Regina’s legs are clamping my hips, her fingers clawing at my waist, and when a tension spreads through her muscles, I feel it. 

“I cannot…” She pants, and what follows is a series of moans and yelps, while her body convulses under mine. Her pleasure slams me like a comet, dragging me through the space towards a fucking burning sun. For a moment, I think I will explode into a million pieces, but instead the smoldering sensation steels me further. 

Regina comes once, twice, and I’m so fully aware of her I can feel even the hard bud of her clit being pressed between our joined pelvis. She throws her head back, her neck red and hot like a fire pit, her lips almost purple with the pump of blood. I prop myself up onto my hands, adjust myself against her and watch as her eyes open to stare at me in wonder. She runs her hands down to grab my ass, steering me even as another orgasm hits, and I follow the motion, I fucking follow the fucking motion.

I have no idea of what force in this world is holding me together, and I don’t have the time to think too hard about it. Part of me just knows it’s not my time yet, and that the omega binded to me right now needs more, and that this is what really matters. So I shiver, and I pant, and I moan, and I think I’m going to shatter, but I don’t come. I don’t think I  _ can _ , I don’t think it’s completely up to  _ me _ .

I kiss Regina fiercely, sucking on her lower lip and growling in a haze, then her hands leave my ass to grab my hair and pull me even deeper into the kiss. She moans, whispering amazing nonsenses into my mouth, until I forget myself completely. The hunger she causes me is so deep my whole body roars. Our mouths miss each other when I thrust harder and faster, trying to speed up the pace. 

And then Regina howls, as if in pain, when I accidentally slip out. The twist in my guts is also stunning, but the worst is the sudden hurt and despair I read in her eyes. It all feels exaggerate, but also very much real, the oversensitivity now working against us. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I whisper, thrusting my hip forward, only managing to have my shaft sliding through her slit in a heated, but unsatisfying, way. I curse under my breath, feeling again like an idiotic novice, and Regina pushes me with all her might, tumbling me from the top of her.

It’s my time to panic with hurt, the idea of having messed this up threatening to swallow me. But then Regina straddles me, and I’m in again in one swooping motion, and the world tilts back into the right position. 

“I’m sorry,” I repeat, raising a hand to wipe a single tear from her cheek. God, this is all too much. So much. How can I want even more? “I never did this before.”

Regina stops, her chest heaving slightly, and stares at me. “You never did this before?”

I feel myself flush, but shake my head no. It’s not like I’m a fucking virgin, or that I’ve been a celibate since coming to fairytale land, but I only hooked up with Hook a couple of times, and he was a beta - no heat involved or anything, and most of the times not even my cock came out to play. So, yeah, I have no fucking experience with mating.

I kinda expect her to scold me for not mentioning it before, but weirdly she beams at me. She beams, and then giggles softly, leaning in to kiss me. So I guess I’m forgiven, what makes it worthy how embarrassed I am right now. Regina caress my jaw with her fingertips, brushes my lips with hers, and she’s smiling as she whispers, “Take it out again without my permission and I will end you.”

I chuckle, pulling her closer by the back of her neck and kissing her again. I’m fucked with this one, and I’m glad for it. It’s not a deep kiss, but the intimacy of it leaves a tingling sensation on my mouth - it tastes like magic. 

Regina straightens herself again and I’m left with this amazing vision; her slender body stretching itself, her breasts swaying slightly as she moves, her legs tight around my hips. Her cheeks are flustered, messed up hair, the scar above her upper lip glowing under the torches. I run my hands through her thighs, and Regina’s fingers cover mine, all of them traveling together around her curves. Her waist is so sinuous it’s almost dangerous, and then I come out at her ribs, seize her breasts. I thumb the hard nipples and she throws her head back.

When she starts to ride, I’m at the edge of my clarity, and very fast it all becomes a blur. I prop myself onto my elbows, raising my upper body to mouth her breasts, sucking on a nipple until Regina cries out. She pushes me down again, leaning in to offer me her neck, and I feel how her plump clitoris rubs the base of my shaft with the movement. Her come drips down my erection as I devour her throat with famished kisses. 

When Regina lifts herself up again, she grabs my shoulders and pulls me with her. I sit up, gasping, and feel as her legs move swiftly to surround my hips. Our chests meet, then our mouths, and we hold each other tight. I feel like every inch of me is part of every inch of her. My heart is strumming in my chest, and Regina’s heart echoes. I grip her ass as she holds my hair, and we are pulling, swinging, trembling and moaning in unison. 

This time, I don’t need Regina to tell me what’s happening.

This time, it doesn’t hurt.

This time, when I start knotting her, it feels so right I can’t even breathe. 

“ _ Emma _ .” 

“Yeah,” I pant, swelling inside of her, swelling until I feel like I’m made of iron. “I’m yours.” 

“I’m yours,” She echoes, and I don’t doubt it. 

The pleasure that courses through my body as I get even harder is unimaginable. Regina starts to glow in my arms, all of her enveloped in a thick layer of magic. It takes me awhile to realize I am, too. We are not purple and white, this time. We are mixed in a lavender tone, one thing, one energy, one power. We are one.

Suddenly, she can’t move anymore, nor can I. We are fixed, bonded together, so tight I feel like the world could be ripped apart easier than us. Regina starts shivering, and I have to cling on to her as her body melts in my arms. Her eyes are rolling, her skin bristling everywhere, and she screams when a bolt of light and heat explodes between us. It doesn’t seem like an orgasm, it seems like a primal need being satisfied. 

Regina contracts around me, so hard I almost jump, and suddenly I’m slammered by all the forces in the universe. My body tightens in an useless effort to contain it, but there is no way, just no way. I feel her grasp on my shoulders and our eyes meet in this countdown to doomsday. Then we both let go.

Our voices get lost in each other, our magics storming into the room like a meteor shower. I come inside of her, dissolving my own life into Regina like I never thought possible. I love her, so completely, so deeply I could pass out. I can barely stand the weight of loving her this much. We sob together, moaning, crying into the steamed air around us. And when it’s over, instead of empty, I feel more complete than I’ve ever felt before.

I’m complete. I’m finally complete.

I all but come undone, falling into the mattress again, bringing Regina with me. She lays in my trembling chest, very still, and I hold her, I hold on to her for dear life. The battle is hours away, at best, but here, right now, it could be another galaxy. I’m so afraid to pop this bubble, I don’t dare to talk. What is there to say?

Regina kisses my chest, right above the heart, and I smile to the ceiling. 

I’m complete.              

 

_ Regina _

 

My eyes dart from one side to another between the trees, then up to the sky. All my senses are so keen I can hear Emma breathing by my side, almost hear the strong beating of her heart, and definitely smell the alluring, firm scent she gives away. If last night did anything, was to make me so aware of her I could find her in the depths of this earth with my eyes closed. 

The magic makes my wrists itch lightly, piling up on my knuckles, impatient. Somehow, I know Emma feels the same way; I feel it ricocheting in her skin and coming around to me even stronger. The moon is fading behind the clouds, but it barely makes a difference now; the east border of the horizon is already almost completely orange. I glance at Emma again and wonder if it is possible that only a few hours ago we were together in a frenzy that stills buzzes through my veins to this moment.

A acute howl echoes from the distance, along with other indistinct sounds, and Emma stretches her neck in that direction like a cat.

“The packs,” Her voice is serious and tight, but barely above a whisper. I nod in agreement.

“I hope they managed to take down all the scouts.”

“I’m sure they did.” 

We exchange another glance, then look up at the fort walls, towering over the trees. Of course, we never had the chance to go near them enough for me to check on the defenses surrounding the gates, but I am sure there is more than stone there. For once, I know the fairies protected the place against teletransporting decades ago. The only way to go in is through the gate, which is heavily fortified. As David pointed out, Zelena chose the place rather wisely.    

Emma moves her feet against the leaf-layered ground, and I feel her eagerness contract my own muscles. “It will not take much longer,” I tell her, and she nods. 

“Look,” She says, turning to stare me in the eyes. “About last night…”

I feel myself freeze. “Not the time nor the place,” I hiss in a hurry. Whatever is about to come from her mouth, I cannot let it distract me. 

“I know, but it’s kind of important. I mean, we didn’t even talk about doing it, and we didn’t use anything…”

“ _ Emma _ .” I glare at her, wishing I could spell her mouth shut. “If you are going to ask me about DSTs, I swear I will mute your vocal cords until we are back home.”

She rolls her eyes at me, “You are a healing witch, you literally healed me with a touch, I think we’re good about DSTs.”

“Good, now focus on--”

“I was talking about the other stuff,” She cuts me. 

“ _ What _ other stuff?” I bark back, and she raises an eyebrow in a meaningful way. It takes a moment for the penny to drop. “Oh. You do not have to worry about that either.”

“Kay…” She studies me for a second. “So I guess it means you’re on the pill or, like, I don’t know, on the potion, whatever you guys do around here?” 

“No, it means I am barren.” 

In the sudden silence that follows, we can both hear soft footsteps coming closer through the woods, and Emma curses under her breath. 

“We should talk about this later.”

“We don’t have to.”

“I do. Look, Regina, I don’t wanna act as if last night never happened.”

“It happened,” I say, the flashes of memories and sensations enough to make my heart ache. 

“Yeah, it happened, it meant something and we’ll talk about it. Promise me.”

“Lord, ok, I promise!” I hiss the moment David steps into light, passing through two huge oak trees. 

“How is it?” She asks him.

“All set.” He waves his hand, and Emma turns around and follows him. 

I track right behind them while David leads us through the woods; our small group being flanked by huge, menacing wolves. One of them has familiar green eyes, and barks amicably at Emma as we march. I try to remember we are allies, and most of all, I remember Emma gasping  _ I’m yours  _ as our bodies fused. 

What does she want to talk now?

I cannot think about that. 

We reach the tree line less than five minutes later, and stop on our tracks at David’s sign. 

“See the stone path over there?” He whispers, pointing at scattered round rocks that dot the ground between the end of the woods and Teagan Fort’s outer walls. “It’s the blind spot. With our army aligned on the south face of the walls, there are less guards scouting the perimeter. We have a few minutes now to approach the walls unnoticed and figure out how to crumble them down. Are you ready?”

I exchange a glance with Emma and she nods. Then we are both running, with David on our heels. The wolves fade again into the woods, ready to round the walls and join the army on the other side. We follow the stone trail, trying to outrun the guard walking the perimeter, in an effort to remain incognito a little longer. 

“Do not touch it,” I warn as we finally approach the walls, and Emma retreats her extended hands.

“No alarm, no alarm, no alarm,” She whispers under her breath.

“Emma, focus,” I hiss, and she straightens up.

“Ok, let’s go.” 

We both lay our hands at the wall at the same time, and then stop to listen. Nothing. No sound, no light, no fire, nothing. We let the air out, relieved for a moment. 

“I told you there’d be no alar--” Emma’s cut by a hoarse yelp echoing from above. I look up in time to see a guard on top of the wall, bringing a trumpet to his lips. Before I can even take in the scene, I feel a gush of air right above my head and an arrow is buried to the man’s chest. He crumples down, hitting the floor with a moist thud. Emma avert her eyes, and I turn around to see David with the bow on his hands, scanning the surroundings.

“Hurry up!” He says in a tense voice. 

“You were right,” I tell Emma. “There is no alarm.” She does not seem very comforted by that right now, and I am not very reassured myself. I was almost positive there would be some kind of warning against my magic, or hers. But there is nothing. “Let’s move on.”

“Yeah, right, let’s go.”

“Do you remember the spots?” David asks, his eyes still trailing the walls above.

“We do.” I tell him, taking the hand Emma offers me. 

I close my eyes and try to mentalize all the exact points of this wall we mean to affect. Of course, it is too great of a fort for me to collapse it all; even with Emma’s help, we would be both extenuated before we managed to free half the way. Instead, David and the generals have chosen strategic points around the place, positioning our forces where they might be more efficient. Now it is on me - on us - to let them in. 

“We don’t have much time,” Emma says, and I know she is right. Another guard will come, and David will not be able to take them all down before they denounce our presence.

“ _ Now _ ,” I tell her, and we cast our magics against the walls. I feel the aching thud of Zelena’s spell bouncing us back, burning my guts. By my side, Emma gasps in pain. “Give me more,” I growl eagerly, and this time I feel Emma’s power course through my body, entwining with my own.

We strike again, the bust of power cutting through the spell, tearing it apart like cobwebs, leaving only the tingling buzz of residuous magic. “Now!” I cry out, and this time there is nothing to shield the rocks from our blow. 

The attack ignites explosions around the whole length of the walls, and I can hear the stones crumbling down, the gate’s thick wood smashing into shreds. The men yell, both ours and Zelena’s, and then the sound of boots crushing the ground fills the air. Our army is taking advantage of the passages we just bursted open. 

Emma looks at me, panting, and smiles. I am out of breath, too, the effort taking its toll, but to feel her magic running through my veins is so energizing that makes my muscles twitch and my skin bristle.

“Very good, guys,” David says, leaning in to peek at the gateway ahead of us, only big enough to allow one person at the time.

Emma joins him, and I stand behind them, trying to glance over their shoulders to watch our army invading through the passages split open and over the crumbled gate, clearly taking Zelena’s forces by surprise at the courtyard. The three of us watch as the circular formation marches as a well-oiled machine, washing over the enemy soldiers on the way. The clatter of swords fills the air, catapults spring into work, and the morning silence is ripped as brutally as if cut by a knife.

“Now?” Emma asks, glancing at me over her shoulder. Her green eyes shine under the sunlight, almost golden, and I wonder again what she wants to talk about. My heart flutters, wondering about silly things such as love. “Regina?”

“No,” I say, blinking into the moment again. “Wait a little longer.”

We stand there in silence as the disarray builds up all around the courtyard, and the men yell, and grunt, and raise their swords and fall down. Emma’s shoulders are tense, seeming ready to spring into action, the maille raising and falling with her breathing. Standing there with that armour, the sword hanging from her belt, she is every inch the perfect image of the Savior, and I have to ignore the sudden throb on my lower belly.

“Now,” She says suddenly, waking me up from my daydream.

I look at the battle ahead of us, a chaos of dust and fire, and then I nod, “Yes, now.”

David squeezes through the opening into the courtyard, Emma follows him and I step right behind them. We flank the worst of the fighting, David swinging his sword deftly and deadly, clearing the way to the inner gates. We are circled just as we are approaching the immense wooden gates that will lead us inside the fort. I wave forcefully, and a gust of wind make the soldiers sway on their feet. David steps in front of me the moment one of them regains balance and hup forward in my direction.

“You gotta go!” He says under a shower of sparkles when their swords connect. “Move!”

I look around, counting six, maybe seven men aligning around us. To even knock them out would take more energy than would be wise to spend right now - we still have not met Zelena. Emma grabs my hand, as if reading my thoughts, and tugs me towards the gates. “He’ll be fine,” She tells me when I hesitate. I do not think she will forgive me if something happens to David. “Come on!” 

I finally give in, and Emma tosses a soldier almost ten yards away with a tight move of her fist, yanking me behind her as she runs. Our fingers entwine and the magic buzzes between us like electricity; I barely need to command it to bust the gates open. The only things left of the passageway are smoldering pieces of burning wood hanging from the hinges. 

A small gang jumps into action when we step into the inner patio; Zelena’s personal guard, for sure. I count fifteen men and women in full armour, their swords glistening with some unknown magic. Emma curses, clutching my hand tighter. I strike the first one to step forward, sending her tumbling through the air and falling with a loud clutter. By my side, Emma sticks two fingers in her mouth and whistles so loud it almost leaves me deaf. 

“What are you doing?” I yell over the chaos. 

“Calling for reinforcements!” 

And indeed, she barely has time to unsheathe her sword to keep away a young soldier with piercing eyes before a choir of growls echoes behind us. The wolves attack with the precision of a dance routine, and it is my time to yank Emma away when they clear the path for us. 

We run through the patio and arrive at last into the atrium. I look around, trying to guess where Zelena might be, which way to go. Yet, before I can decide, a creaking sound makes me look up to the top of the stairs, and Emma turns around at once.

“Hello, little sister.”

I stare at her, suddenly all but bored. Nothing is more tiresome than dealing with Zelena. 

“Oh, hello, greenie,” I greet back. Zelena narrows her eyes as Emma raises her sword again. I step to her side; I want her at my reach. 

“It took you long enough,” She says, coming down the stairs slowly, until she reaches the floor. “I have been waiting for weeks.”

“Bad weather,” I shrug, feeling the magic serpentining through my wrists, twisting, making me close my hands in fists. “Were you bored?”

“I was, actually.”

Emma looks from Zelena to me, uncertain, her sword in position. I glance at her, willing her to understand, to wait. Zelena steps forward, smiling sickly.

“Well, now we are here to entertain you,” I say, raising my hands. 

Emma follows my lead, and lifts her free arm, thrusting her magic alongside mine in one powerful outburst. Zelena deflects the blows with a blunt move, then sneers. But I see the way her eyes run to Emma, standing by my side, and the moment she realizes this will not be as simple as she might have hoped.  

Her stare stays on Emma a little too long, almost curious. “Then she is a good pupil, is she not?”

None of us dignify that with an answer, and when we strike again, Zelena has trouble dodging it. Emma swirls and flings a spell right at her chest, knocking her with the strength of a punch. Zelena staggers back and Emma springs forward, dropping to her knees and sliding almost a whole yard to hit the the flat side of her sword on Zelena’s ankles and tumble her to the floor.

Zelena spins out of reach and my own blow of magic hits the floor where she was just a second ago with the snap of a small bomb. She sneers again when Emma and I join forces one more time, our powers striking lightnings to the room. Zelena swirls into the air, a green blur deviating from our spells and hanging midway to the roof, laughing madly.

“You might have found yourself a pupil, sister, but you’re still pathetic.”

Zelena charges a spell at me and I block it with my own magic. Emma takes the chance to attack her again, but she gets out of the way just in time. 

“Emma!” I call her, and we lunge together from opposite sides, making it impossible for Zelena to get away. Our spells strike true, sending her to slam her back against the wall. Emma runs to my side, panting. I know her energy is running low, and I am also not at the top of my game, at this point. “Are you ok?”

“Let’s get this over with,” She gasps, her jaw tight and a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

I nod, and we move forward.

“I will destroy everything you have,” Zelena says through gritted teeth, her hands burning with a raging power. Her blast flies at me with the speed of a bullet, and before I have the time to do anything, Emma jumps in front of me, receiving the light beam into her open left hand. 

“Emma!” I cry out when she is thrown backwards and collapses to the floor. I counter-attack by sheer instinct and fury; Zelena comes up with a magical shield, but it is not enough to protect her from the potency of my blow, and she is shot to the roof.

I run to Emma, crouching by her side and touching her face. The has a bad cut on her forehead and is still knocked out, but I feel the steady pulse of her jugular and my heart sobs in relief. I turn around to watch as Zelena stumbles to her feet again from the opposite side of the atrium. A small cut at the side of her mouth drips blood onto her chin, and she has a mad expression on her face that makes me want to shake her like a rag doll until she becomes undone. Well, that  _ is  _ the plan. 

“Alright,” I say, stepping at her direction. “It is just the two of us now, just as you wanted,  _ sister _ . Let’s get this over with.”

We both charge at each other, and I feel my guts twisting as I gather every ounce of strength within me, by fingers flaming with power. Yet, when I cast my spell, Zelena does not even make a move to defend herself or attack me back; she only jumps right over my head, cackling up. 

“You never got me,” She says as I turn around. Zelena landed by Emma’s side, and is holding her wrist between her fingers. “And you’ll never get anything you want.”

I raise my hand to strike her, gritting my teeth; Zelena touching Emma’s skin makes my whole body boil with fury. But before I can hit the target, she vanishes in a puff of smoke - and she takes Emma with her. 


	5. What she wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. I know I took my time to finish this, and I hope you haven't given up meanwhile. I just finished it, and should probably read again before posting, but I'm kind of anxious, so here it goes. :)   
> I'm really glad for the responde this got, and that you enjoyed it and let me know. Thank you so much for the reviews and tips and all. I had a lot of fun writing. Hope you like the ending. It's a bit dramatic haha but it's kind of ouat style, I'd say.   
> Guess I'll see you soon!

_ Emma _

 

I come to myself feeling like a loud high school band is playing in the back of my skull. My eyes resent being opened, even for the faintest light of torches. I try to touch my nape, where the sting is more acute, but only to realize I’m in chains. 

“Ugh,” I moan, pulling against the cuffs around my wrists. Magic sparkles along my arms, and the steel absorbs it like it’s thirsty. My watch slides about, the screen telling me it’s past noon. I want to disregard that as it being crazy again - or else it would mean I was passed out for at least a couple hours -, but it hasn’t tick-tacked a second out of time since Regina spelled it. 

Regina. Where’s she?

I look around, craning my sore neck. I’m not in a cell or anything, just laying on a rather comfortable cot in some weird, dark place. The chain around my wrists is fastened to the stone wall beside me. The light is faint, and I’m not sure of what gives it up, but I guess I’m in some sort of cave. How the hell I got here is a mystery.

I hear the footsteps just before a shadow stretches itself through the room. I sit up, trying to contain the strong nausea that follows the movement, and straight myself right before Zelena steps in from a dark archway, a few feet ahead.

“Finally,” She says, smiling at me. “Had a good nap?” 

Zelena’s carrying a straw bag, which she takes to the opposite corner and places over a makeshift stone table. 

“Where’s everyone else?” I ask, remembering leaving David behind to face five, six armed men. Ruby and her pack with a trained guard from Oz. And Regina… Regina, who I was stupid enough to let down. 

“I don’t usually predict the future,” Zelena responds, turning to face me. “But I guess it would be safe to say they must be looking for you.”

I try to make sense of it, try to hear, to smell, to  _ feel  _ any other presence around. Where is her whole army? And why are we in a cave, if she won? Unless she didn’t. 

“Am I some kind of leverage? Cause you know it won’t work; it will just piss them off further.”

“Oh, no, Emma, you are not leverage, sweetheart. You are the whole deal.” The beam she gives me this time is creepy enough to make a shiver run down my spine. Zelena flicks her fingers and a sudden fire catches beside the stone table, the light making my head throb, and I wince.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” I ask as she materializes a small cauldron and props it floating just above the fire. I pull against the chains again, angrier this time, and sparkles fly away as my magic is absorbed. 

 “Don’t waste your energy, Emma,” Zelena says, and approaches me. “I spent the last two hours spelling it against your magic. Do you know what that means?” She gives me a condescending look, and I grunt. I know what it means - that I don’t have a fucking chance beating it. 

“Why did you bring me here?” 

“So we would have time to talk alone. You should be flattered, really. All the work I put together just to have the chance to meet you again…” 

“Meet  _ me _ ? Your fucking army, Tegan Fort, the whole battle you got yourself into just to piss Regina...”

Zelena’s soft giggle interrupts me. “Aggravating my little sister was just an amusing bonus,” She says, extending a hand to my face. I try to bat her touch away, but the chains contain me. Her fingers are warm and delicate against my cheek, very different from what I expected, though I’m not sure of what to expect at all. “Don’t fight me,” She whispers, looking me in the eye. My headache starts easing away, the pain giving place to a pleasurable haze, and I have to resist the sudden urge to lean my face into her touch. 

“What are you doing?” I blink once, twice, and feel my body fight her magic, despite the chains, despite what she told me. She can’t do this to me, touch me like this, charm me like this, I’m not hers. 

“I’m being nice, Emma,” She says, not indelicately. “You’re in pain, I’m trying to help.”

“Yeah, you can’t kidnap me, keep me chained to a wall and be  _ nice _ ,” I spat back, dodging from her touch when her hand moves to my hair. 

“None of this will last much longer, I promise.”

“Just tell me what you want from me!”

“Everything, sweetheart,” She says, going back to her cauldron. “I want everything. Would you care for some tea?” 

 

_ Regina _

 

The pain is so deep I want to curl into a ball and howl. Instead, I yell at the nearest guard for the tenth time this minute, asking for a goddam white rock no blind fool seems able to find nearby. 

“Regina,” David steps forward and holds me when I sway on my feet. “Please, sit down for a moment.”

“I am fine,” I try to get rid of his hands, but I am still too dizzy to manage it. The energy required to face Zelena was almost draining, but Emma’s sudden absence is what takes the biggest toll. I feel ripped apart, and I do not know where my other half is. I need to find it. I need to find  _ her _ .

“You look like you’re going to pass out,” He replies, gesturing for a soldier to bring a chair and easing me onto it. “We’re gonna find her.”

“Of course we will!” I cry out. Part of me knows he meant to be reassuring, but all it did was to remind me there is another option. “If at last one of these incompetents bring me what I need to finish the potion!”

“They are doing their best,” David says, sitting too. “We have just won a battle, less than three hours ago. There are men still lying dead in the courtyard, for God’s sake. Injured men, scared men. And I know you want to find her, you think I don’t, too? We’re all doing what we can.”

I avert my eyes, close my hands in fists so they will not shake. The image of Zelena holding Emma’s arm keeps playing in looping in the back of my mind, taunting me. I let this happen, I let her take Emma away from me. The pain I feel is much less than I deserve - but it is nothing close to the pain I will inflict my big sister once I find her.

“The mines?” I ask, changing the subject in hopes it will keep me sane.

“Reynolds just sent me a boy to confirm; the fairies’ seal was never broken. Zelena didn’t take anything from the mines. We don’t know if she just wasn’t able to, because of the break-in protection, or if…”

“She never even tried,” I finish for him. My thoughts fly about like wasps. Once it was clear our forces were smashing their formations, Zelena’s men started to run. Not to the forest, though, not to the surroundings. They ran  _ inside  _ the fort, a nonsense strategy, since they were cornering themselves. It turned out, there was a portal waiting for them. A portal back to Oz. Our own army did not even attempt to follow them there, and I stood in front of it with my heart thundering in doubt, until I was sure she hadn’t taken Emma there. If Emma had been taken to another land, I’d know. I know I’d know. In any case, the passageway closed itself half an hour ago. And now the intact mines...

“What do you make of it?” 

“It was a trap, David,” My voice sounds like a broken whisper, and I clear my throat. “She knew Emma was the Savior; she staged a big threat, knowing I would have to reply, and that Emma…”

He shakes his head. “That’s not possible. You’re saying all of this was just to get to Emma? Not you, but Emma? Why? Why would she do this?”

I look at him in disbelief. “Emma is a child born out of true love! She owns more power than any of us could ever guess. I do not think  _ she  _ even knows what she is capable of. But Zelena does. Oh, God, I was so blind.” I want to slap myself, to cry, to destroy everything around me. 

David considers that for a moment, “Alright, maybe so, but she can’t make any use of Emma’s power against her will, can she? I mean, she can’t drink Emma’s magic like a vampire. And, as far as I know, if Emma isn’t willing, they can’t even join forces, so… What’s her deal?”

“I do not know,” I reply, the knot in my guts becoming tighter. 

“Your Majesty!” Duncan calls, walking in with a tired beam on her face. “Found it, my Queen.” 

I jump to my feet as she approaches and kneels, extending me her hand where it lays a small rock, as white as the moon. The last ingredient to a Locator Potion. 

“Well done, Duncan,” David says as I snatch the rock from her palm and turn again to my cauldron. Then he steps closer and lays a hand on my shoulder. “We’re gonna find her. Emma can fend for herself, and I’m sure she won’t be easily bent by Zelena.”

I nod, once again not voicing my worries. If Zelena was smart enough to come up with all this show, I am sure she knows she cannot convince or threaten Emma to comply with her wishes. No, I do not believe she will even try to make Emma work against her will. So what really scares me the most is what she is going to do to make Emma  _ willing _ .  

 

_ Emma _

 

“You know, Emma,” Zelena starts as the mix inside the cauldron starts to boil. The steam coming out of if smells sweet and fresh, and I realize how thirsty I am, “you and I are not that different.” 

“Let’s agree to disagree,” I reply, half my attention on the conversation, the rest of it roaming the room, piling up magic on my fists, turning the cuffs warm. I don’t know what she’s cooking up there, and I don’t care how good it smells, I’m pretty sure I’d be smart to escape before it’s ready. 

I feel a tug in my guts that’s stronger than just survival instincts. It’s Regina. I feel her calling upon me, a force so attractive I keep gasping and running out of breath.  _ I’m going, just wait for me, I’m going back to you,  _ I think, wishing somehow she’ll listen. I was supposed to protect her and instead I’m here, helpless. I’m helpless and I can’t figure out a way to escape. There’s nothing around, no one, and her enchantment keeps gulping my magic down like an endless pit. 

“Just think about it,” Zelena goes on. “We were both abandoned to our fates, had to rely on our own strength to survive. We had no one to take care of us, no one to sing lullabies, no one teach us anything. We had to teach ourselves.”

“The difference is that I taught myself right from wrong,” I say, and she tilts her head just a bit. 

“Right and wrong are just different points of view.” She takes a step forward, her eyes still on mine. “What do you think is right? To make your people happy? To make your land thrive? We could do all of that.”

“Why don’t you tell me once for all what  _ you  _ want?”

“I want the life that should had been mine all along,” Zelena replies, and I feel uneasy with the lack of sharpness in her tone. She’s angry, this I can tell, she’s angry all the time, but she’s also vulnerable. “I want a home, a land, a family, the future my mother should had made sure I’d have! She didn’t, but still here I am. I am fulfilling my destiny, as you did.” 

“You want all that Regina has,” I state, and she shakes her head. “You’re just a jealous bitch.”

“No, sweetheart, I want  _ more _ . I have the courage to take the opportunities she has been offered and build myself a happily ever after. I am not throwing away my shot.”

“But you can’t just take it,” I say slowly, fitting the pieces together. “Even if Regina wasn’t a match for you - and I guess she could be, if she really tried -, you know there’s always Rumplestiltskin. He shows up, and your party is over, isn’t it? You’ll never take this land, her castle, her people...” 

Her smile falters for a second at the mention of his name, but it comes back a moment later, brighter. “Now you begin to understand, then. The reason why we are supposed to be together.”

“What-”

“Your white magic and mine… God, there’s no limit for the things we’d conquer. Nobody will ever be able to stand up to us. We are going to be unstoppable, you and I. I am not afraid of it, Emma, I am not afraid of becoming one with you. I told you already, I am ready to have the life I deserve, and you are a part of it.”

I snicker, shaking my head. “You’re crazy, woman,” I drag myself to the edge of the cot, watching as Zelena turns her back to me and moves again to her cauldron. “And you don’t know me at all. There’s nothing you could offer me, there’s no threat you could make that would have me agree with this.”

“But I do know you,” She replies, drowning a tin cup into the boiling liquid and bringing it out dripping. “I have been watching, and waiting, and planning… I did my homework. I know you have an army of friends and family, and that you protect each other, and sacrifice for each other, and that I could not ever bend your backbone.”

“Ok, so glad we had this conversation, now can I go?” I mock, arching an eyebrow as she pulls a strand of her own hair and sprinkles it into the cup. The liquid glows green for a second, then white, then green and white, and I have a flashback of her hand in my hair earlier, and I wonder…

“No, there’s only one thing that moves a person like you,” She goes on, not letting me distract her. Zelena approaches the cot and I ready myself to sprint, to shove these cuffs onto her snob face and knock her out old school fashion, with my fists. 

But the moment I try to raise my arms, I feel they are suddenly connected to my sides. “What is this? What are you--” My legs weight like stones, my feet are glued to the ground. I can’t even turn my head.   

“One thing, sweetheart. I am not fool enough to try and force the hand of the Savior, no. I spent so much of my life believing being respected and feared was enough, but now… I’m ready to do better. With you, Emma.” 

I try to wiggle myself away as she brings the cup to my numbed lips. My magic burns in the pit of my stomach, storms through my skin, shakes me from the inside out, but the cuffs drink it all, until I am powerless, on the brink of collapsing. 

“What do you want from me?” I mutter one last time, my voice suddenly cracking with panic. Some part of me that doesn’t belong to myself anymore is quivering, and my heart cries out for Regina.  _ Save me _ , I ask her inside my head.  _ Come take back what’s yours.  _ But I know it’s too late and that it’s unfair, and the steam from the potion is already fogging my mind.

“I want your love,” Zelena whispers, her hand grabbing my jaw and forcing my mouth open. “I just want some love,” She says as the potion runs down my throat, sweet as summer wine, warm like sunshine, drowning me, my thoughts, my pains. My belly hurts, full, revolving, and it keeps coming, cup after cup, and I’m not even fighting it anymore, I’m thirsty, and I like the way she touches my face and kisses my forehead as I gulp down, and she smells so good, a sweet-peachy-honeyed omega smell that I don’t know how I didn’t notice before. And when the cauldron is empty, she holds me, and I can’t think of a reason to get away.

  
  


_ Regina _

 

I bat a branch away from my face, cursing under my breath to anything that appears in front of me. The effort to prevent myself from depleting my magic by blowing the forest away from my path makes me take in a deep, deep breath. Between the trees, Emma’s jeans slides easily forward while we trot after it.   

Everytime the image of Zelena taking hold of Emma and disappearing fills my mind I want to incinerate something. My dear sister would be my very first choice. David keeps glancing at me, time and again mumbling something encouraging that only tests my patience further. By my left, Ruby’s huge wolf form runs swiftly and quietly, what I much prefer. The three of us are followed close by four of David’s trusted men.  

We ride through the afternoon, the sunlight dimming over the treetops, the shadows stretching its fingers to grab our horses’ feet. My silk sleeves are frayed from the branches I was not able to brush away, and sweat is pouring from my neck, my muscles tense like pressure springs ready to burst. The magic simmering in the pit of my stomach, in my venter, tells me about Emma’s proximity as much as the piece of clothing glimmering the way.

We are all startled by the clothing sudden disappearance, pulling the reins and making the horses neigh in protest. I come to a brusque stop near a huge and dark stone wall, my eyes scanning the hillside until I believe I can somewhat make out the crevice in which the jeans went into. 

David hushes his horse, spinning around a few times, uneasy, until it comes to a full stop. “Here?” He says, unsure. I know what he is thinking of. I was also expecting something… greater. Some sort of complex, a fort, some kind of Zelena’s base. Not anything like this… a cave. 

“Maybe the clothe took a shortcut, sir?”, Reynolds ventures, sounding as uncertain as his king. “We could circle the hill, find it on the other side. Though I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it tonight, Your Majesty.”

“It is not a shortcut,” I say, my eyes still focused on the wall, the crevice alluring me in like firelight attracts moths. “She is here. Emma is here.” I dismount on trembling knees, her faint smell turning my guts into liquid flames. 

“Wait,” David grabs me by the wrist before I can notice he too got out of his horse.

“Wait for what? Emma is here, I am telling you!”

“We can’t go in like this; it couldn’t look more like a trap if it had neon lights over it,” He argues as I shake myself loose. 

“Stay here, then. Wait for me to come back.”

“Don’t be silly,” He grows under his breath, the look on his face more determined than I have seen in awhile. “If you think I will let you endanger my daughter’s life, you have something else coming, Regina.”

My fists come alight with magic when I step forward to meet his glare. The little voice inside my head screaming I have  _ already  _ endangered his daughter’s life is the only thing preventing me from exploding. We are both interrupted by a low growl, and I look down to see Ruby gently biting on David’s trouser leg.

“You’re right,” He tells the wolf, then stares at me again. “If Emma’s inside, the pants already got to her by now. Zelena will know we’re here. There’s not even a surprise element in this situation. We gotta be smart about it - we gotta get her out.”

“Uuuuurgh!” I grunt from the back of my throat, the fear and the anger and the desperate love within me snapping into a power surge. I crouch and whack my fists into the dirt, causing a tremor to rumble from the depths of the earth. The horses cry out, jumping into their hind legs as a crack explodes from where I stand and into the cave, the ground shaking, the sky suddenly bright with lightnings.

“What the fuck!” I hear one of the soldiers curse, trying to contain his mount. 

I stand up again, feeling light-headed, and David props me for a moment.

“Alright, I guess that’s as good a call as any,” He murmurs as golden flashes appear from within the cave entrance. I feel like a storm ready to fall, my rage something thick and red, and as a shadow flickers at the archway, I know I can take Zelena down in one deadly blow.

But it is not Zelena’s features that come into the light; it is Emma’s. My heart skips a beat as my eyes roam her in an afflicted hurry. She does not look injured, nor is she tied up. Her long hair is up into a ponytail and a dark, pretty dress falls around her slim curves.

“Emma?” David calls when my voice falters.

She is alive, she is alive and well, and here. I found her. My knees almost buckle, and that is the only reason why I do not run to her arms. That and the subtle, but clear caution in her green eyes.

“Regina”, Comes a second voice, its sound echoing before the woman steps out of the darkness right behind Emma. “Welcome, little sister. A bit late, again, I’m afraid.”

“Let her go!” David yells, his sword at hand, his men surrounding us, in position. “You’re surrounded.”

“Oh, by all means,” Zelena smiles, her hand resting softly on Emma’s shoulder. She does not flinch. “Emma, you are free to go with your father, if you want to.”

It is all I can do to stop my mouth from hanging open. My stare does not leave Emma’s face for a moment, but her deep green eyes only surpass me, calm. Suddenly, idiotically, I realize she is enchanted. 

“I think I wanna stay with you,” She replies at ease, a soft grin curving her lips.

“Well, well,” Zelena takes another step forward and stands by Emma’s side. “I would love for you to stay a little longer too, dear.”

“What did you do to her, you miserable witch?” I cry out, my fingers trembling, burning with power. I want to - and I know I could - transform Zelena into a steamy pile of ashes, but first I need to know what she did to my Emma.

Zelena giggles, her arm circling Emma’s waist in a way that gives me nausea. “Do you know what makes ruining your life so fun? The fact you are this naive, Regina.”

Ruby’s howl suddenly fills the air, making my skin prickle. She is a blur once she is running, and I spring into action at her sign. The magic building up in my hands fly at Zelena’s direction, making her free Emma’s waist to contain my blow. I believe this will buy Ruby just enough time to get to her, and once we have Zelena in our hands, without Emma on the…

“Emma, no!” David screams, jumping forward when a explosion of white light hits Ruby’s trunk, sending her howling into the air. All he has time to do is catch the huge body of the wolf into his arms and collapse to the ground, cushioning Ruby’s fall. I watch it all, my heart thumping in fear. Emma just attacked Ruby. She just… attacked Ruby to protect Zelena.

My sister’s laugh cuts the air like a knife. “I wouldn’t try that again, if I were you,” She says, amused, while all of us stare in dismay. “Emma and I are… a team now. Aren’t we, dear?”

She presses Emma against her hips again and I step forward, sparks flying from my fists; but in a blink of an eye Emma’s in front of her. I cannot tell if she stepped in front of Zelena, or if Zelena made the move, but anyway there she stays, guarding my sister with her own body. Why? I step back, dizzy.

“Emma,” I call her, and she looks me right in the eyes. Nothing. I see nothing there but a lazy, wary gleam. “Emma, come on.” She studies my extended hand, but does not move. My heart is thundering now, as something starts to dawn on the back of my mind. “Emma!”

“She won’t go,” Zelena says. “She won’t go because she’s part of me now. I’m finally here to take what is mine, little sister. To take all the opportunities you have been offered and wasted. Including this one…” She caresses Emma’s cheek, making those green eyes turn around to face her again. “You had the Savior with you this whole time, and you never did anything about it. You had a kid together, and not even that stirred you! Oh, but I… I am not afraid of it as you are, sister. Emma and I, we will be together forever.”

“I will kill you,” I mutter, my voice deadly even to my ears. But Emma, Emma is beaming at Zelena.

“I don’t think you will, no,” She replies cheerfully. “With our magics combined, you would never even get close to that. But that is not the only reason, is it? You’re not killing me, and you won’t let any of your allies try that either.” 

“Regina,” David whispers by my side. “What is going on here? What is she talking about?”

“If you can appreciate the irony of it,” Zelena continues, “I’ve used one of your creations.”

She issues a clear little bottle from her sleeve, a bluish liquid bubbling inside, and I feel my guts coming undone. It is a potion I have created ages ago, under mother’s instructions. One of my firsts. To a teenager that only wished to be cherished by her mother, the choice was obvious, my intentions mostly pure at the time - a love potion. An irreversible one. For a moment, I can still hear mother’s praise in my ear, how she hugged me, how she told me I was a genius. Of course, the uses she had for it were never as pure as my own, and I never took the credit for it when the formula got popular among witchcrafters. 

The knot in my throat threatens to suffocate me, and I gasp over and over, the bile coming up burning its way to my mouth until I gather enough control to push it back. 

“It is a love potion,” I tell David, who frowns, eyeing how Emma and Zelena interact. 

“I’m sure Emma will get over it once there’s not one to love anymore,” He whispers threateningly. I shake my head; he doesn’t understand.

“No; it will not go away, David. She will still be in love, only… alone. And she will hate you for it, she will hate  _ me _ . She will… We cannot…” 

“There must be a way do undo this!” He spats, his grip in the sword tightening. “There’s always a way.”

“Maybe, but I…” 

“Oh, stop it,” Zelena interrupts us. “You know what you did, sister, and you did it quite well, didn’t you? The only way to disengage her feelings for me is to numb her; Emma will be forever mine or no one else’s. Will you do this? Will you curse her to a lonely, loveless life?”

“I’m sure she’d rather be single than paired with the likes of you,” David replies, disgusted. 

Maybe he is right, he is  _ probably  _ right, but all I can think of… is that I have lost her. It does not matter how the game goes, at this point, she will never be… my Emma. My legs finally fail under me and I fall on my knees, trembling. I see mother’s hand crunching Daniel’s heart and my own with his. The emptiness running my veins now is no different from the one I felt then. My happy ending escaping through the cracks, disappearing into thin air.

Emma’s eyes meet mine, and my vision blurs with tears. “Emma,” I call her in a faint voice, wishing with all my might she will remember last night, remember how we became one, our bodies and souls connected through the ages. I want to beg for forgiveness, because Zelena is right - it has taken me so long to see her, to see her fully, to understand the opportunity life laid at my feet the day Henry brought her to my doorstep. The Savior - my Savior, that is what I never comprehended. She was not there to break the curse, she was there to break  _ me _ , make me something new.  And now…

Zelena giggles softly and turns around to kiss Emma. A sob breaks through my mouth when their lips connect. It is such a venomous kind of jealousy I could shatter myself apart with the power of it. I want to look away, to run away, to kill Zelena even if it will bring Emma’s wrath upon me. But I feel frozen and powerless, all my rage good for nothing - I could not ever be the cause of her pain. I could not ever do to her what has been done to me. God, help me, I think I will lose my mind if this does not…

Then a grunt of pain cuts the air; it is accompanied by a discrete, quick flash of white magic, and Zelena breaks apart from Emma at once. Her embroidered green dress is suddenly spotted with something deeply purple, and it takes me a moment to realize… 

“You really should have a mint sometime,” Emma says, her hand jabbing harder into Zelena’s midsection, piercing it with a dagger of pure light. The pain battles with shock on Zelena’s face as I stumble to my feet again.

“I don’t understand,” She mumbles, her hands covering the wounds, gleaming with a shimmering green power that can barely contain the blood. “It’s a powerful potion, it’s… Why didn’t it…”

“Because she loves me,” I think out loud, my voice barely over a whisper, but it is enough to bring theirs stares upon me. My eyes meet Emma’s, her eyebrow slightly raised, and a foolish, almost desperate grin makes way to my lips. “You love me.”

“Well, don’t get too cocky about it,” She grunts, a second before a spell hits her in the jaw. 

But this time I am ready, so ready I could crunch an army as if they were cockroaches. And, well, I will admit Emma’s jab might have been of some help. Zelena staggers forward, too slow to deviate from my blow. I hit her, once and again, the fury of it binding her to the ground. I do not realize the bitter violence dominating my guts until Emma is grabbing me, pulling my arms, shaking me out of it. 

“Regina, stop. Stop, you’re killing her! Regina! That’s enough, it’s enough, I’m here… I’m here, you can stop now. You can stop now.”

And so I do. Crumbling into her arms, letting Emma catch me and wipe my tears away as I sob uncontrollably into her neck. “I thought I had lost you,” I whimper against her lips, her hands brushing my hair away to kiss me.

“But you didn’t, you didn’t,  _ she  _ was too late,” She says, grinning lightly. “I was already taken.”   
  


_ Emma _

 

The hot water eases my sore muscles and I feel like I could dissolve into this tub while Regina rinses my hair. I let out a weary groan, feeling as her fingers run through my scalp rhythmically. Not even the lavender soap running down my shoulders can mask her scent, and as the tension leaves my body, something else fills it.

“Dive,” She tells me, and I oblige, shaking my head under water to get rid of the foam.

When I emerge, she’s waiting for me, and starts her way up my arms from my fingers with a sponge - it’s not a particularly rough sponge, but she rubs me fiercely, making me wonder if she’s trying to rub Zelena off of me or if she is just the tough-love kind of girl. Not that she loves me. We haven’t discussed it yet.  

“Are you ok?” I ask softly, trying to get ahold of her eyes. 

“I should be the one asking you that.”

“You did. Multiple times, actually,” I reply, reaching up to grab her wrist. “Regina.” 

“Emma?”

“Are you disgusted with me or something?”

“What?” She finally looks up, her dark eyes too clouded for me to read. “What kind of nonsense is that now?”

The way back to Tegan Fort was slow, exhaustive and full of concerns. Ruby had a couple of broken ribs, I had a lot of apologies to make, Zelena had to be tended to and kept unconscious until we managed a safe way to lock her up... It was dark, and everyone seemed on the edge. Regina still does. 

“You’re acting weird and won’t talk to me,” I say, cocking my head to capture her gaze. “Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

“It’s noth--”

“Tell me, dammit,” I interrupt, clutching her wrist tighter.

“I am just thinking you two were in that cave together for many hours,” She starts, lofty enough to dismiss my curt tone. “I cannot help but wonder the things you might have had to do while pretending you were… in love with her.”

My jaw hangs open for a moment, then I collect myself and shake my head again. Of course. I’m such a moron. Of course that’s bothering her. Zelena held me, Zelena kissed me in front of her. She paraded me as much as she could. 

“Nothing happened,” I tell her at once. “Here, look at me, I swear nothing happened.”

“Define nothing,” Regina retorts, then winces. “I created that potion, I know how powerful it is.”

_ Not more than true love _ , I think, but don’t say it. I’m already too naked in here.

“Look, she had me cuffed, so I couldn’t do magic,” I start, wetting my lips. “Then she froze me in place and threw the thing down my throat, while making her super-entitled traditional speech - which is such a villainous thing to do, really. So I kinda knew what she was expecting from me?” I sigh when Regina backs away, and drag her back by the wrist I’m still holding. “When I first drank it, I stopped feeling like running, I stopped being scared of her. I just laid there as she rambled on. But she didn’t attempt to do anything… I think that kiss was a little show meant for your eyes.”

“That bitch--”

“Yeah, yeah,” I dismiss, rolling my eyes. “It lasted just long enough so she thought it had worked. I was back to myself within the hour.”

“And you did not…”

“No,” I assure her, and Regina’s eyes search carefully for mine again. “No. I swear.”

There’s silence for a moment, and I wonder if she thinks I’m lying. Honestly, I’d lie if I had to - about this, I’d lie until the end of times. But it so happens that I’m telling the truth. Regina looks on the verge of arguing, but then her posture crumbles down.

“I am so sorry for not have seen it coming… I should had imagined…”

“There was no way you could,” I tell her firmly. “And you rescued me. You saved me, damn. Now I’m not even sure of what’s my part in this story anymore.” I give her a tentative grin and am rewarded by her light touch on my cheek.

“You are everything, Emma. You are the whole story.”

“No, I don’t want that,” I hold her arm with both hands and jerk it forward abruptly, making Regina tumble into the tub with me with a big splash.

“HEY!”

I chuckle as she turns around in the water, brushing dark wet strings of hair from her face. “Join me,” I say.

“A bit late for asking, don’t you think?!”

I smile, bringing her closer, to my lap. Her silk robe floats in the warm water as a red river surrounding us. I am pleased to find out she isn’t wearing anything under it. 

“Join me in the story, Regina,” I say, grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her face to mine. “Join me in fucking everything.” She gasps lightly when out mouths meet, as if it a century has passed since we had the chance to do this. Regina tastes like hunger and fresh grapes and home. “For fuck’s sake, join me in being in love?” I ask at last, and she breaks apart to look me in the eyes.

“Yes,” She whispers, her hands coming up to hold my face. “Yes, I love you. I  _ love  _ you, and I will be with you wherever and whenever you let me.”

I kiss her then, first on the mouth, then flying my lips over her damp face, catching the slightly salty taste of warm tears. Maybe my eyes well up too, but who cares. My heart thumps like a crazy drum, setting the pace for us. I know Regina and I will probably will never live in peace - we’re not meant for it. But we’ll be together nonetheless. Stronger together, as we have known for quite some time. 

Her fingers climb up my neck, tangle in my hair, and pulls me into another kiss. I wonder if every each one will taste like this, and I hope so. My cock rises like a fucking rocket, making Regina groan against my lips and adjust herself in my lap so she can straddle my hard-on properly. I feel how it fits against her slit, the sensation now only a premise of what’s to come instead of the sweet torture it used to be.  

I get rid of her robe and grab her waist with both hands, my fingers clawing at her back, pulling her onto my body until there’s not an inch between us. Her breasts brush mine, our hard nipples kissing as her arms entangle my neck and our tongues entwine. Her breath becomes sharp and warm, my hands sliding down to grip her ass shamelessly.  And suddenly I’m so aware of her I lose track of where I end and she begins. Regina’s clit bud is rubbing fiercely against the length of my cock, and her thick, hot lubrication is running down my dick even in the water. 

I kiss her deeper, demanding more, and Regina succumbs with the softest whimper. I hold her tighter and the magic fills me, enveloping the both of us and landing our bodies dutifully on the bed.

Regina gasps, opening her eyes to look around, our dripping selves tangled on the sheets. “I did not know you could do that,” She says, arching an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know either,” I chuckle, and kiss her again, laying her down to get on top. At some point maybe she’ll tell me all about the dangers of teleporting, but it’ll not be today. Today, her mouth is mine. She is  _ all  _ mine.  

This certainty grows within me like a tree spreading roots in the ground. Regina is mine, and I can have her. There is no holding back anymore, no second thoughts. Something deep in my chest lets out a great, savage roar and breaks free, and from then on I am some new version of myself. I am Regina’s alpha, truly, completely, for the first time. And it feels monstrously wonderful.

She feels it too, I can tell. Regina’s lips become all of a sudden more tender and moist, sweeter, even. Drawing me in. Her thighs press my hips, her scent explodes in a million of new complicated scents, all of them making me hungry and desperate. My cock hardens up to its limits, and I detect the start of a knot throbbing in the base. When I curse, Regina runs her nails through my back and whispers my name like it’s a spell. 

There no reason to wait. God, I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life over this. I move my hips against her, she arches her back, shifting the angle, and I’m in. So easy, it seems we have been doing that for years. Regina is so wet and warm I could come undone; sliding in is the greatest pleasure I could ever conceive. And she moans as if she feels exactly the same way - and I know she does. We are one thing only, and I feel her. I have her. 

I knot her in a hurry, way past control, and Regina cries out. Her nails bite into my ass, and I push in harder, though I’m already all in. She stares at me, her eyes so bright and her pupils so dilated I regret all his haste. I wish I had taken my time with this moment - made it last all night. Now we are just too close from exploding, the fire of the knot fogging our minds like poison. 

We cannot move very much at this point, but our hips are joined so tight her swollen clit is massaged by every light move. I can read the waves of pleasure exploding like fireworks from her venter, even though I have no idea how. I also do know she will not last very long, the moans becoming shrilling and followed by tremors. 

“Oh,  _ oh _ ...  _ Emma _ ,” She pants against my face, and this glowing fire enveloping us both becomes thicker and darker. Her orgasm is coming like a storm, and wells up in my own venter as well. One thing. We are only one. God, she is so gorgeous… I want  _ more _ !

_ Not yet _ , I think abruptly, and something tugs with all force at my guts. The fire roars up and then recedes, and Regina arches her back in desperation. Then I remember the last time we mated, how it seemed as if Regina could control my own climax, somehow, as if I wasn’t completely in charge of myself. And this. Now. I tame the fire within her with sheer willforce, and Regina revolts under me.

“No, no, Emma!” She calls, pulling my hair, clawing my back.

“Quiet,” I tell her, grabbing her wrists and binding them over her head. She stares at me, our hearts thundering against each other. And then she complies. The sweet pleasure of control makes my cock throb even harder, and Regina whimpers. We are so tied now I can’t really understand how we’ll ever break apart. 

I kiss her neck; wet, heated kisses that leave marks in her pale skin. My pelvis keeps an ongoing pressure against her whole clitoris area, and Regina’s wrists convulse in my hands, trying to break free so she can attack me again. I don’t let them. 

“Emma. Oh, dear, oh, dear… I need to…” She mumbles in a husky voice that gives me chills inside and out. 

I know what she needs; I need it too. The only thing distracting me from my own iminent explosion is the battle to dominate hers. Somehow, when I think if I feel one more thing I will shatter, the pleasure builds up. We are pulsating together, so tight, so tight I am about to lose my mind. But  _ not yet _ . 

“Soon,” I tell her, capturing her lips again in a famished kiss. And though I know she is uneasy and peeved, her mouth has nothing but heat and delight to offer. She moans when I bite on her lip, sniffs as I hiss her name and whines when I roll my hip around, making her clit stiffen to a sore point.

“ _ Please _ , love,” She prays, her lips red and throbbing against my own. Regina is trembling under me, the necessity overcoming everything else. “Please, let me come. Please, Emma, I need you… Please.”

I let out a shaky breath, her words resonating like thunders around my body, dissolving me into piles of loose desire. Our magics burst through the room at once, the fire roaring again when I let go of my grip, as much on the edge as she is. I can’t hold anything anymore; we’ll both crack if I do. My own despair is so clear now that we yell together into the steamy air. 

Regina arches her back, welcoming the orgasm like dry land welcomes rain. I follow her tantivy, ready to lip into satisfaction - until she grabs me in the last moment. I don’t know how the fuck she manages it even as she comes, but Regina locks my climax so well I can’t catch its trail. And as I squirm in agony, she orgasms so hard she starts convulsing under me. I am divided about considering this the most unearthly sexy thing I’ve ever laid eyes upon and screaming at the burning necessity stuck inside of me.

When she relaxes again, I can barely breathe. Regina blinks once, twice, before focusing on me and offering me a provoking smile. “You did not come?” She asks playfully. “Not yet?”

I grunt from the back of my throat and sink my teeth in her neck. Regina laughs, then groans, scratching my back from nape to ass. “Join me,” She moans in my ear, and I can barely understand what happens when she frees her grip on me. 

To say we come would be a hell of an understatement. We have an outbreak, we split the earth and glue it back, we die a little. But it’s ok to die in her arms. It’s ok. My body shakes so hard I can’t control it; my cock spams, emptying myself within her, spilling, bursting. Every inch of my skin is source of pleasure, my brain drowns in it until I’m taken, and we scream  in unisson. And I join her, and she joins me. I know we’re joined for life now.  

My knot eases away slowly as we’re still panting in each other’s ears. I move myself unsteadily, and Regina stirs, “No, don’t pull out, don’t…” She complains as I disconnect our hips, then pouts at me. 

“You’re not in place to give me orders now, are you?” I retort, lowering myself to spread moist kisses through her collaborne. 

“I am always in place to give orders, I am the Queen,” She states, streching under me, then sighing when I mouth a breast. I respond to that with a bite. Her nipple pumps, the tip rigid and sensitive. “Enter me,” She pleads hoarsely, her hands in my hair again.

“First you’re gonna pay for that little trick you just pulled,” I reply, though my cock is still very much hard, and very much against my decision. 

“Alright, I shall pay,” Regina complies, her hand sliding to my back, surrounding my waist and looking for my hard-on in one swift move. I back away just in time, grabbing her wrist instead and using it to spin her around until she lands on her stomach.  

Regina lets out an indignant gasp, looking over her shoulders to glance at me. “I am not one of your maids!” She hisses as I bind her body with mine. 

“But in this bed you’re not the Queen either,” I reply, brushing her hair aside to kiss her nape. Her following protest is melted in a sigh. “Now behave and I will take you again soon enough.” 

Regina no doubt sends me one of her death glares, but I miss it while distracted by her skin. The curve of her back is so beautiful I get overwhelmed; her scapulas, her waist, her bare ass… It’s all my land. I start at the top of her spine and work my way down, kissing and caressing, nibbling and licking. She arches her back like a cat, moans against the pillow, times cursing, times praising. 

I am breathless by the time I get to her coccyx, and Regina is impatient. I bite her left buttock defiantly, and she jumps a little. She has the most gorgeous, hot butt, impossible to overlook. My hands grab it, my fingers sinking into soft skin. She lets out a surprised yelp, my name coming out puffy, tense, but I can sense the acute sting of arousal that hits her as I start rimming. Her hands grip the sheets, her body tensing up, and her heartbeat speeds to the moon. 

“Emma,” She calls, her voice strained in attempt to disguise just how horny this makes her. I grin, imagining that little part of her meaning to say this is improper, somehow, but never managing, because it just feels too good. 

Then I push it further and put her on her knees. 

Regina gasps, the new position leaving her so exposed I can take turns eating her ass and her pussy, never taking long enough to allow her to come. I gulp all down when her lubrication starts dripping, her clit so swollen and reddish I can  _ see  _ it throbbing. I try to ignore my own need burning in the pit of my venter and focus on her. Regina’s taste, and scent and heat. She calls my name every time more dizzy, her legs shaking. 

And when she says “I need you now,” I know this time she means it. 

I get on my knees behind her and guide myself in in one motion. Regina cries out, propping her upper body up onto her hands. She presses her ass against my pelvis, making me go all the way in, and I groan from the back of my chest. The wave of relief is so huge we both sway for a moment. Then any modesty is gone. She’s all mine, and I’m all hers, and we fit. We fit, and she rolls onto my cock, and I charge against her hips, my hands grasping her waist and pulling her harder and faster.   

She moans loud as the head of my cock keeps rocking against the sweet-spot inside her; the position optimizing every move of my hips. I smell her come as she explodes like a burning sun, so wet it leaves my hard-on even more slicky. I keep going, and Regina matches my pace again in seconds. Every soft slap of our bodies connecting is another bolt of pleasure, and she contracts around me tightly. 

My whole body seems to expand when I start knotting her again. Regina whimpers as if it is too much too handle, but her sex welcomes me. Encloses me. Takes me. We froze in place, throbbing against each other, the time in suspension.

_ You love me. _

_ Join me. _

_ I love you. _

_ Wherever and whenever. _

When we are on the verge of collapsing, the orgasm hits. This time it feels like one only huge conflagration swalling us both alive. And there’s nothing left when it goes away. 

Regina falls flat on her stomach and I pretty much crumble on top of her, my face resting somewhere below her shoulder blades. 

“What…” She starts, then gulps. “What did you do to me?”

I hesitate. “I, hm, made love?” 

“That was  _ not  _ making love,” She huffs, then pauses. “That was better.” 

 

_ Regina _

 

We stay in Tegan Fort for two weeks. It is enough time to reunite the fairies for a council meeting, put the fairydust mine back in service and… hand Zelena over to them. This idea comes from Emma, and it takes me awhile to agree to it. In the end, I concede she has a point - we would not want Zelena close to us, to the capital, to the castle, to Henry… No. She stays here, locked up. At least until I am less infuriated enough to give her a fair trial, that is - yes, another of Emma’s suggestions. 

In two weeks, Emma and I rebuild most of the place and help in the recovery of many soldiers. The days are long and tiring, but what at first seemed like endless work turns easier when we are together. We are powerful. Enough to leave most of our men - David included - amazed. Enough to grant us sideway glances from Blue. We are powerful enough to conquer the world - but we are satisfied with having our own. 

We stay in Tegan Fort for two weeks, and then we leave. We start the long and heavy way back home through muddy roads and snowy weather. The days are short, the nights are long, but in what concerns me, that is just fine. We are not in a hurry; we have all the time in the world now. Somewhere along the way, my heat vanishes. It only eases very little of the greediness with which we  _ make love _ . 

A few days after that, I start feeling sick.

“Maybe it was something you ate?” Emma asks when I have to stop for the second time to vomit by the side of the road. “That deer stew sure looked hella sketchy.”

The mere memory of it makes me dry heave again. “Maybe,” I mumble, sweeping my mouth with water and spitting with a disgusted face. “Can you back away, please?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll still want to kiss you. As soon as you brush your teeth, I mean.”

“It is just… you smell like horse,” I say, grimacing. Do not get me wrong. Emma’s smell is usually a glorious thing, fresh and herbish; her breath smells good, her come smells wonderful, and she is very… fragrant in general. But today, I cannot…

“Are you telling me I stink so much I’m making you sick?” Emma retorts, and I am not sure if she is amused of offended.

“It is Thunder, really, that I cannot stand.” 

“Yeah, cause your horse smell like roses.”

“Emma, I am not feeling very good, if you haven’t noticed. Can you please just…”

“Ok, ok! I’ll go back my smelly self away. But you are seeing a doctor!” She states, giving me a pointed look.

“I do not need a doctor. I am a healing witch, you said it yourself.”

“I don’t see you healing yourself right now,” She replies, raising an eyebrow.

I do not have an argument to counter that; I have tried, actually, but the sickness overcomes my magic every time. Of course, if this is some kind of mild poisoning, I would not have way to--

“Then a doctor it is,” Emma interrupts my train of thought.

“We are in the middle of nowhere, Emma. How am I to see a doctor?”

“Oh, lucky you, I just learned this new trick,” She raises her hands in a theatrical way, swirls them around and disappears. She materializes again out of thin air two steps closer, startling me. Her hands land on my hips and she balances me when I sway. “I’ll go to the nearest town and fetch a doctor, since  _ a Queen doesn’t leave her army _ ,” Emma quotes, but her tone is soft, in spite of the irony.

“You are overreacting,” I tell her.

“You’ve been sick for a week. I’m starting to worry, Regina.”

“I will be fine.” And I will, of course, if she backs away and drags that awful scent of horse sweat with her. My stomach revolts.

“Just humor me, then.” Emma touches my hair, then slides her knuckles through my cheek to my jaw. I swear to God if this smelly hand comes closer to my mouth, I shall barf in her palm.  

“When do you mean to leave? And when will you be back?”

She shrugs, “I suppose I can go right now. Ruby already pointed out the direction, and I also checked on a map, so I guess with a couple of jumps I’ll be there quick.” Emma enlaces my waist, pressing our bodies together for a moment. “I’m not sure I can bring someone back with me this far away, though, so we might have to ride a little. I’ll be meet you again tomorrow night, tops.”

I gulp the amount of saliva pooling in my mouth and nod, trying not to breath in. “Alright,” I concede, resting my hands in her shoulders. “I guess there’s no time to waste, then. Go at once, and come back soon.”

Emma smiles at me, “I’d kiss you goodbye, but…”

“Don’t.”

“Yeah, better not.”

“Not,” I agree, then push her lightly. “Go before I change my mind about this silliness.”

Emma looks me in the eye for a moment, touches my hair kindly, then teleports from within my arms. Then I can finally take in a deep, deep breath, my stomach revolving madly. I am about to make my way back to the caravan when a soft pop echoes, and Emma reappears. 

“Did you just agree to that because you wanted me gone because I’m stinky?” She asks at once, staring at me with narrowed eyes.

“Of course not, dear.”

“Hm. Ok. Good. Because I do not smell that bad!”

“I love your smell, you know that. You are my alpha.”

“Right.” She hesitates for a moment, then sighs. “Yeah, alright. I’m going, then. For real, this time. Come here.” Emma opens her arms to me just in time to catch the flow of a small breeze. Horse sweat and deer stew fills the air, and I am back to heaving into the side of the road. “Oh, COME ON!” This time she is definitely less amused than offended. 

_ Emma _

 

The doctor stays in Regina’s tent for about fifteen minutes before I lose my patience and invade the room. Regina is finishing tying her robe again and raises a regal eyebrow at me when I step in. The doctor, named Belian Mousy - an old man in his sixties, with thinning hair and a tired smile - looks up from his shabby suitcase. “Oh, hi, Ms. Swan.” 

“Hey, doc. What’s up?”

“I believe you were supposed to wait outside,” Regina says calmly.

“I’ve done my waiting,” I retort, crossing my arms. If this woman is sick, if there’s anything wrong with her, I need to know. The fact she was still sick when I came back - worse, according do David, now refusing to eat properly and taking too long to get up in the mornings - made me more uneasy than I’d like to admit. 

One demonic idea keeps creeping into my mind - what if Zelena cursed me? What if  _ I _ am the one making Regina sick? What if I am poisoning her, somehow? I have to shake my head and steel myself to remain steady. 

“Well, we have just finished here,” The doctor says mildly. 

“What is it?” I ask in a hurry. “What is wrong, doc?”

“The doctor and I agree,” Regina intercedes, “that it is likely that I have been in contact with a pestilent plant or bug, by accident. I shall take the most common antidotes...” 

“Though that was not my first suggestion, my Queen,” The man replies softly. “And it is my duty to advise that some of these antidotes are not indicated to a woman in your condition.”

“What condition?” I look from one to the other, and step closer to Regina. “What is it? What are you not telling me?”

“Nonsenses, Emma. I have discussed the impossibility of it, dr. Mousy.”

“All the symptoms…” He starts, and my hands close into fists.

“Someone tell me what’s going on!”

There is a brief pause, during which we can only hear the crickets outside. Then Regina lets out a deep sigh, before saying, “He believes I am pregnant.”

Her tone alone tells me all I need to know about the situation. Regina is barren; she made herself infertile when she was young and afraid of her mother’s future plans. She doesn’t regret it, but she mourns it deeply - this much she didn’t need to tell me. And now comes this man saying something like this. Something she knows that can’t be, and that she wishes it could. I feel like dragging him out myself.

“So the antidotes…” I start tentatively, and she nods curtly and averts her eyes. “You’ll be good as new.” I go on, reaching for her hand. 

Belian sighs lightly, before closing his suitcase. “I will give the tea recipes to your maids, Your Majesty. If it is some kind of ill reaction, we will find out soon.”

“Yes, you do that,” Regina says without looking back. 

“May I just add,” the doctor goes on, and by the way Regina’s shoulders tense up I’m about to tell him to give up for his own good, but the guy surpasses me, “Your Majesty is a powerful witch. In the case my first diagnosis is right, you can probably feel the fetus, if you try.” 

Regina’s hands turn into slightly glowing fists, and I guess that’s my cue to lead the doctor out before I need to go fetch a doctor to take care of the doctor. I shake his hand and point him in the maid’s tent direction before turning back inside.

“Are you ok?” I ask. 

“Fine,” Regina replies. She’s pouring herself a glass of wine and I step closer carefully.

“Can I approach? I showered…” 

She looks over her shoulder and the smallest grin tugs the corner of her mouth. It’s all the permission I need to round her waist from behind and rest my chin on her shoulder. 

“I missed you,” Regina whispers.

“I missed you too.” I brush my nose into the curve of her neck and she shivers in my arms. “David says you’ve been tired…”

“Oh, then you left your spies tracking me?”

“He’s not a spy, he’s my dad. And happens to like a little gossip.” I can all but feel Regina rolling her eyes. “Maybe we should just teleport ahead to the capital, so you can rest properly?”

“A Queen doesn’t…”

“Come on,” I say, holding her closer. “Dad will take care of it, and you need… You need to be ok, alright? That should be your focus now.”

“I will be fine. Honestly, yes, I am a bit sleepy, and the mornings have been a challenge with the nausea… and, well, my back is killing me lately, so I might bring up the carriage, but all in all…”

“Damn,” I let out, frowning.

“It is not that big of a deal, dear, that is all I am saying.”

“It’s just… I kinda get dr. Belian’s insistency? I mean, the symptoms really...”

“Emma.” It’s a warning. 

“What if we just…?” My hands slide down lazily, from her abdomen to her venter, and Regina gets stiff in my arms. 

“That is stupid and we are not doing it.”

“I know it’s scary…” 

“It is not scary, only--” 

I’m not sure of what I’m doing - I just do it. I push my magic in, searching, fulfilling Regina’s body with it as I have done so many times lately. I don’t know what I’m looking for, I don’t know if there’s anything to find. I’m lost, and if I’m being honest, I’m scared too, but we need to know. I guess deep down Regina senses that too, because her hands cover mine and her power joins my own.

Together, we go deeper. She guides me, slowly, tentatively. I close my eyes, focusing on the soft hush of her breathing. Then her heart. Then my heart. And then something else. It’s just a spot of sunlight; the tiniest buzz of life. But it’s there. It’s as clear as the day, solid, alive. Beautiful. The shock is so hard we lose the grasp and the magic recoils at once. I open my eyes again just in time to catch her when Regina faints.

 

_ Regina _

 

Emma is calling me from somewhere far away. I wish to meet her, but feel too tired to do so. My muscles are heavy and sore, my guts feel twisted in a knot. Then a pungent smell stings my nostrils and I wake up gasping.

“Oh, God,” I mewl, my eyes welling up. “Not deer stew.” 

“Sorry about that,” Emma says, and I see the shadow of a bowl flying out of the tent. “Just wanted to wake you up. It was that or cold water in your face.”

“The water. Next time, the water.” 

She grins, helping me to sit up. “How are you feeling?” 

I do not believe there is a question I feel less prepared to answer. Emma’s eyes meet mine, and our hands entwine. We felt it together - there is no room to deny or doubt it anymore. There is a life growing inside of me. I am pregnant. I am… 

“I am fine,” I whisper, and it is the truth. 

Emma holds me as if she sees it coming even before I do; I only manage to dive my face into her chest before the storm hits and I start sobbing madly. I know I am ugly crying, and it feels impossible to stop. All the heaviness and pain and loss I have carried decide to come out at once, and it is all I can do to utter them out. It is Emma that shields all of this with her body, taking me into her arms and whispering sweet nothings in my ear until I am hiccuping and gasping for air. 

My body gives up on crying before my heart does. I am hoarse and tearless, and finally too tired to go on with this. So Emma brushes my hair away and holds my chin to make me look up. Her eyes scan me carefully, as if she is the weather girl trying to foresee any other storm. 

“I am done,” I let her know, and that brings a grin to her lips. 

“Can’t imagine how it looks like when you’re  _ not  _ feeling fine,” She mocks, and I roll my eyes. That makes the grin grow. 

“Emma,” I bring her eyes back to mine, my mouth as dry as a desert. “I am pregnant.”

“Yep. Guess we own the doc an apology.”

“Oh, fuck the doctor.”

“My Queen!” She fakes surprise. “And you kiss me with that mouth?”

“This is not the moment to be silly!”

“Alright,” She straights herself up, then raises an eyebrow. “You’re pregnant. You know what this means, right?” 

I wet my lips, before nodding. Yes. Yes, I know what this means. 

“We have to get married--”

“I have healing sperm--” We say at once.

“What?” Emma frowns.

“ _ What? _ ” I echo.

“Get married? We never even went on a date! You cannot expect me to--”

“You do not have  _ healing sperm _ ! That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever--”

“Ok, I get this is Fairytale Land, but limits?...”

“I suppose we could say  _ true love _ healed my curse, but that was not your work alone--”

“I guess Henry will be happy as a penguin. Maybe we’ll get there and have a wedding party waiting for us…”

“If by this you mean to argue you should spread your sperm around like--”

“But at least one date? God, you could at least get me a ring…”

“It is  _ my  _ healing sperm, understood?”

We stop to breathe, the silence settling as we eye each other suspiciously. 

“So… I’m thinking an autumn wedding?” Emma says at last. 

“Yes,” I agree, still studying her. And then, just to leave my mind at peace, I add, “And you are  _ not  _ getting close to any other barren women in this realm.”

 

_ Emma _

 

Agatha is born eight months later - four months after Regina and I get married in a  _ small _ ,  _ intimate  _ ceremony for five-hundred people in her royal castle. She is this perfect little bundle of cuteness and snoot, with Regina’s dark brown eyes and Henry’s propension to good moods. 

It’s kind of funny how we both are and aren’t first-time moms. We teach each other what we can, and most of the time we just go with the flow. We are pretty much always exhausted, and smudged with some unknown mash mix, and drunk with happiness.  

When Agatha is around three months old, Regina’s cycle comes full circle, and her heat comes back with full force, waking us in the middle of the night like the room is suddenly on fire. 

“Shit, I almost forgot how this felt,” I moan against her mouth. Regina answers me with a low growl, and the night grows darker as we grow more desperate.

 It’s almost dawn when I crumble by her side, our legs tangled, our hearts racing. 

“That was…” She starts, her voice deliciously hoarse.

“Yep. Really was.” I nod, looking dizzily at the ceiling. “We should probably start taking some precautions, though? I mean… Last time you were barren and we still made Agatha… God only knows what we can make now.”

“I suppose…” Regina says half-heartedly.

“Don’t get me wrong, what we did… Agatha is… awesome. It’s just… you don’t want to, like, fill this castle with our puppies, right? Two of them is kind of enough.”

“Yes. Of course. I would not want that.” 

But when she rolls to get on top of me, her megawatt smile bright even in the dark, I get the feeling this is  _ exactly  _ what she wants.


End file.
